Thursday, September 18

Growing Kent & Medway Showcase Celebration

By Growing Kent & Medway

Meet the innovators, researchers, and policy makers transforming horticulture and plant-based food and drink in Kent and Medway.

Date and time

Location

The Orchards Events Venue

New Road West Malling ME19 6BJ United Kingdom

Agenda

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM

Arrival

Registration, coffee and networking

11:00 AM - 11:05 AM

Driving innovation through place-based investment

Lynne Porter, Research England

11:05 AM - 11:15 AM

Delivering impact through innovation

Simon Barnes, Director, Growing Kent & Medway

A reflection on the impact of place-based investment for innovation and outlining the vision for the future development of Growing Kent & Medway

11:15 AM - 11:30 AM

Opportunities for growth in Kent and Medway for the agrifood sector

Sarah Nurden, Manager Kent & Medway Economic Partnership

11:30 AM - 11:45 AM

Power of academic and business collaboration for inspiring innovation

Dr Michelle Marin-Chau, Nutri-San

Prof Alessia Buscaino, University of Kent

Hear from Nutri-San, a sustainable seaweed biotechnology company, who work closely with academics at the Biotechnology Hub to drive innovation in their business.

11:45 AM - 12:05 PM

Recipe for Success: how the right networks can accelerate growth

Valerie Pondaven, University of Greenwich

Rebecca Smith, University of Kent

Entrepreneurs reflect on the impact of our Accelerator and Mentoring programmes on their scale-up and growth journey.

12:05 PM - 12:15 PM

Whiskey & Mushrooms: Unlocking innovation through grant funding

Jon Mills, Founder, Canterbury Brewers and Distillers

Turning the waste by-products from their whiskey distillation into speciality mushrooms. Jon Mills shares how an idea in the middle of the night and the confidence to seek funding has led to the crea...

12:15 PM - 12:25 PM

Food Systems, Projects and Outcomes: Developing new knowledge and pathways

Dr Zita Stone

Dr Zita Stone, Managing Consultant at ZPZ Consultancy Services and Honorary Academic at Kent Business School, will explain the importance of a whole food system approach, the impact of Growing Kent &...

12:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Demonstration, networking and research tours

Lunch provided by Wasted Kitchen. Visit our exhibition area to meet the entrepreneurs behind the latest food and drink innovations. 20 minute tours to learn about Niab's research facilities will also...

12:25 PM - 12:40 PM

Q&A

Good to know

Highlights

4 hours, 30 minutes
In person
Free venue parking

About this event

Food & Drink • Other

Join us to celebrate another year of sustainable innovation in our dynamic region.

Meet exciting plant-based food and drink businesses and hear from the innovators and researchers making our horticultural food systems more sustainable.

The event will include:

Talks from local policy makers and funders
Presentations on cutting-edge science and technology developments in food and farming
Taste new food and drink products developed with support from Growing Kent & Medway
Network with other Growing Kent & Medway members; businesses, technical research specialists, funders, and business support experts
Tours of Niab's research facilities, including the glasshouses, Wine Innovation Centre, research vineyards and growth rooms
Plus, hear about the next phase of place-based innovation for our sector.

The morning will feature talks and presentations at the Orchards Event Centre, East Malling, before we move to the Mumford Building for networking, lunch and demonstration displays.

Lunch will be provided on the terrace overlooking the Niab vineyards.

Limited places are available for businesses to display their products during the networking session. Please email contact@growingkentandmedway.com if you would like to request a table.

We hope you can join us for this free event to celebrate the brilliant innovation taking place across our supply chains.

Organized by

Growing Kent & Medway

Followers

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Hosting

Free

Sep 18 · 10:30 AM GMT+1