Upp Freya

Mission: Deliver low-cost, sustainable, highly-nutritious, low-processed hypoallergenic plant protein and fibre from what would otherwise be wasted. Approach: Broccoli is non-allergenic (unlike soy, wheat and pea protein), and has a very low Greenhouse Gas (‘GHG’) footprint, even if grown solely for protein. UPP uses the part of the broccoli plant that would otherwise be wasted. The harvester provides a low-cost feedstock for the protein production creating returns in which the farmer shares and creating a proprietary source of low-cost feedstock. Focus: Broccoli is manually harvested. While it is a high value crop it is low-margin due to a very high cost of harvest. UPP has a unique patent-protected Automated Selective Harvester, that is enabled by Machine Learning, and that reduces the cost of harvest, adding value for the farmer and reducing reliance on casual labour, a major driver of farm gate inflation. Differentiation: UPP has a propriety and patent-filed biotech process for processing brassica waste in to high-value high-protein products for sale to food manufacturers. Broccoli is high in sulforaphanes and free-form polyphenols, which both offer nutritional benefits. Key Relationships: UPP is based out of the Agri-Tech Centre on the Harper Adams University site and has a fantastic relationship with the James Harper Institute. UPP has attracted over £1.2m of Innovate grant funding from InnovateUK. Timeliness: Farmers have challenges with profitability. Manufacturers want lower cost ingredients. Consumers want healthy, nutritious, hypoallergenic products. UPP can meet all these needs with natural ingredients for burgers, sausages, bread, cakes, sauces, pet food and smoothies, as well as creating a natural feedstock for mycelium. Outcome: UPP offers the prospect of helping food manufacturers to reduce their costs and hit their Scope 3 GHG reduction targets, while delivering hypoallergenic natural foods which are more nutritious.