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Lincolnshire Herbs
Lincolnshire Herbs began operating in
Bourne in October 1998, producing fresh herbs for retail and industrial
markets from a purpose built glasshouse complex on the Spalding Road. The
location was chosen because it is just a few miles away from Spalding which is
a major transport hub for fresh produce and is also close to other allied
industries in the town.
The company supplies more than 65 per cent of all the potted
herbs sold in the U K, their customers including the Asda, Morrisons, Co-op,
Somerfield and Budgens supermarket chains.
The name of the firm was originally Swedeponic UK, derived from Swede because the ideas and technological skills on which the company's ethos is based all originate in Sweden and ponic because production is based on the hydroponic growing system adapted and developed over the last 15 years to a high level of technical sophistication.
The water-based system, simply explained, involves the planting of seeds in pots at one end of the greenhouse and the harvesting of perfect young plants at the other
some weeks later.
The market for fresh pot herbs and lettuces was developed in Sweden and they were also one of the first nations to recognise that you are what you eat. Their ideas have spread through the rest of Europe in recent years although the Swedish market remains the most developed in Europe for herbs and lettuces in pots.
All herbs are grown without the use of pesticides and organic certification
was achieved in September 2001, the first UK potted herb producer to do so. In April 2001,
Lincolnshire Herbs (then Swedeponic UK) also achieved the British Retail Consortium foundation level, which
was fast becoming the basic standard required for supplying UK supermarkets. The company is also proud to have
won recognition by the Investors in People scheme, a UK project designed to help businesses train and develop staff to
realise company goals.
Lincolnshire Herbs is part of the European Swedeponic Group, employing both full and part time staff. In January 2000, the company and its managing director Patrick Bastow were honoured in the annual Grower of the Year awards in recognition of their success in the horticultural industry since they began production.
In October 2008, the Bourne factory celebrated its tenth
anniversary. By this time, the number of employees had doubled from the
initial 20 to 40
and producing 300,000 pots a week, up from 50,000 when it began in
1998. The group's chief executive, Matts Matsson, said that the success was
due entirely to a constant focus on quality and efficiency and a drive to
deliver value to the customer.
Further expansion was completed in 2011 with the aid of a grant
of £400,000 from the Rural Development Programme run by the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that facilitated the opening of a new
mechanical packing centre and doubled the production area, so bringing the
total cost of new investment on the site to £1.4 million. This provided
temperature-controlled conditions for potted herbs from harvesting through to
despatch with the aim of improving shelf life and product quality,
particularly during the summer months.
By the end of 2011, the company was employing 30 full time staff but it was
intended to increase the workforce by a further 30 per cent. Mr Bastow told
The Local newspaper (August 11th): "This investment was the crucial
catalyst that enabled us start building our two-acre glasshouse extension
which we could not have done without the grant."
Work was also underway on a new £1.8 million expansion to
provide a block for the production of coriander which has proved to be the
country's second most popular kitchen herb. Mr Bastow said that the facility
would have many state of the art features and was due to come on stream by the
end of February 2012.
The company has now expanded on this greenfield site since 1998 to a
production space covering eight acres and producing 13 million pots a year for
major retailers throughout the United Kingdom. "Our passion is for producing
the finest range of potted herbs, innovative growing techniques and an
environmentally sustainable approach", said Mr Bastow (The Local
newspaper, 25th November 2011).
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WHAT'S IN A NAME
The original company name was Swedeponic U K but
this was changed in December 2009 when managing director Patrick Bastow,
who had helped set up the business, explained that the old name had been
the cause of some confusion leading people to think that they were
growers of swedes whereas it actually referred to the origins of the
business in Sweden. "We are still Swedish owned", he said, "but have
been producing herbs in Bourne for more than eleven years and so our
product is from Lincolnshire and the core of our staff are from this
area. We are very much a Lincolnshire business and the new name will
more clearly reflect that. The group policy has always been to supply
local markets with local produce and our name change will reflect this
policy as well as indicating what we actually grow."
In the picture: Production manager Robert Grundy,
managing director
Patrick Bastow and grower Steve Helm.
In August 2011, the company's operations were featured by the
programme Countrywide which was screened by BBC Television
exploring the changes in funding for agriculture. |
REVISED DECEMBER 2011
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