Crickhowell based company Dragon Microgreens is produces microgreens, a food group that is increasingly popular. Microgreens are the seedlings of leafy herbs and plants that are harvested before they grow to full size. Now, the company has found a gap in the market in the south east of England. Dragon Microgreens is now supplying a number of top restaurants in Brighton after it had to look for new customers in March due to negative effects of the pandemic.
As lockdown hit, the owners Jamie and Nick had to cease operations immediately and the future looked bleak. However, as a new small business that has been supported by the Welsh Government’s NutriWales Cluster group and the Controlled Environment Agriculture Special Interest Group, they were determined to find a solution.
Jamie Walker, Co-founder and Company Secretary explains: “We are very fortunate to be able to vertically farm our microgreens on our farm in the Brecon Beacons, using fresh mountain spring water with organic compost and soils, plus plenty of love, to produce the tastiest and freshest microgreens available. Having been proven to have up to 40 times the nutritional value of average fully grown vegetables, microgreens are gaining popularity as recent studies have shown their health benefits, therefore we began our microgreens business just over a year ago.”
“However, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck our business closed overnight. We suddenly had to look for new clients to sell our products to and to be able to begin operations again. We worked hard cold-calling restaurants in the affluent south east of England and it paid off. So since the end of August we have started a weekly delivery service to 10 restaurants in Brighton, including the prestigious Salt Room Restaurant in the Hilton Brighton Metropole Hotel. With the number of orders multiplying rapidly we aim to increase our customer base further and are now concentrating on finding customers in Wales.”
As reported on newsfromwales.co.uk¸ Dragon Microgreens grow various microgreens including coriander, broccoli, basil, amaranth, kale, radish, sunflower plus rarer ones like shiso. Jamie and his partner Nick are excited by the positive feedback they regularly receive from the outlets and restaurants: