The Agri Food Sector is strategically important. The Greater Lincolnshire area has an international reputation for food, fish and farming and has one of the largest concentrations of food manufacturing, research, storage and distribution areas in Europe.
A UK Food Valley ecosystem is being developed which will position this UK-leading food sector as a top-10 global food cluster. In addition to the three Food Enterprise Zones, South Lincolnshire FEZ, Europarc III and Central Lincolnshire Food Enterprise Zone, it will unite the food industry, food supply chain, technology suppliers, and government and academia to position our food cluster hub as a world-class investment location.
Key priorities for the UK Food Valley, are:
- Accelerating food chain automation and digital technology adoption to deliver productivity growth and high value jobs;
- Delivering low carbon food chains from farm to fork by focusing on low carbon technologies for production, processing and distribution;
- Developing the market potential of naturally healthy and nutritious foods, as well as new sources of protein, such as fish, vegetables, salads, fruit, pulses and lean meat, in which Greater Lincolnshire specialises.
Further information can be found on the UK Food Valley website.
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Innovate UK - Eastern England Agri Tech and Food Tech Launchpad
Agri-tech and Agri-food businesses in Greater Lincolnshire and Rutland can apply for funding from a £7.5m pot to support innovation and growth.
A partnership between Greater Lincolnshire LEP, New Anglia LEP, and the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority has been awarded funding from Innovate UK under their Launchpads programme.
The programme is designed to help accelerate the commercialisation of new technology for agriculture for food processing within Greater Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
To be eligible, projects must make a significant contribution to one or more of the following:
- enhancing the productivity of primary crops, the bioeconomy, livestock, aquaculture or ornamental plants
- biotechnologies related to agriculture, food and nutrition
- food that promotes safe, healthy and nutritious diets
- resource-efficient production methods for low-emission foods
A non-exhaustive list of themes your project could focus on:
- sustainability in the context of environmental challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity
- protecting, maintaining or enhancing animal welfare within current UK regulatory standard
- nutritional composition, food manufacturing and processing, packaging, and safety
- minimising negative effects such as pollution, food loss and waste
- resilience and responsiveness in the supply chain, mitigating risks, interruptions or disruptions
The first competitive round of funding closed on 6th December with the successful projects announced in February 2024 for projects starting in spring 2024.
We expect future funding competition calls to be run in 2024 and potentially through into early 2025.
