Micro Acres Wales, which produces an award-winning range of microgreens, edible flowers, and mushrooms, was established during lockdown in 2021 by husband-and-wife team Chris and Donna Graves. Initially started as a hobby, Micro Acres Wales soon became a means for Chris to follow an alternative career path following the diagnosis of 'ataxia', a health condition that affects his co-ordination, balance and speech.
In 2024, Chris and Donna were given the opportunity to expand their business by moving production from their domestic garage to a dedicated unit located in a former mine explosives storage facility. Micro Acres Wales approached ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University for funded technical support with the move, delivered through the Welsh Government-funded Project HELIX.
The company was also mentored on the layout of their new vertical farm to optimize their production process flow and avoid microbial contamination between seeds and harvested microgreens.
Following the support from ZERO2FIVE through Project HELIX funding, they secured a food hygiene rating of five from Environmental Health for their new vertical farm. As a result of the move, the company has grown their output of microgreens by 50% with the potential to more than double it. The extra space has also enabled the company to expand their product range to include mushrooms and edible flowers.
Source: www.wales247.co.uk