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Camden Town’s Sam Cox with Rootlabs’ Jasper Cuppaidge (Image credit: Camden Town Brewery)
Camden Town Brewery, which was acquired by AB InBev in 2015, has teamed up with Rootlabs an organization which constructs urban farms and GrowUp Community Farms, a London-based enterprise dedicated new urban farming techniques.
Both companies champion the use of vertical farming, a method of planting that cuts down on chemical, saves space and uses 90% less water than traditional techniques. And they’ve come together to help Camden Town Brewery grow fruit for its latest summer seasonal.
With their help Camden has planted 200 strawberry plants to be used in its Strawberry Hells Forever according to The Evening Standard.
The plants are grown in space-saving columns, employing aeroponics technology, where plants are grown without soil and their roots are instead misted with a nutrient-rich water solution.
Image credit: Camden Town Brewery
Rootlabs Co-founder, Sam Cox, told The Standard that utilizing this method will allow the brewery to harvest 10 times the amount of strawberries in the space provided than traditional methods…
“You can typically plant approximately seven strawberry plants per square meter using traditional farming methods. In our vertical farm we are able to fit 70 plants per square meter,” he added.
Jasper Cuppaidge, founder and chief executive of Camden Town, told the publication that the effort was inspired to further its Enfield Brewery’s sustainable production. In keeping with AB InBev’s 2025 Sustainability Goals, the brewery has already committed to solar panels has a water recycling system…
“Enfield as a site is totally carbon neutral so this made sense, to use ingredients that we create on site. We are built on a very small site. Space [in London] is at a premium. It makes sense to use space that we are not using.”
Strawberry Hells Forever is part of Camden Town’s “Seasonal Helles Series,” four Helles variations inspired by the seasons according to the Drinks Business. And the brewery is donating a portion of its profits from every beer sold to help support the GrowUp Community Farms mission.
