Upcycled Plant Power (UPP) has partnered with East of Scotland Growers (ESG) to deploy its automated selective harvesting technology across ESG’s farms.

UPP is a UK food-tech company creating vegetarian protein products and fibre ingredients from previously wasted broccoli crops. ESG is a farmer-owned agricultural collective with a focus on sustainably grown, high-quality vegetables.

The partnership will enable UPP to secure a reliable supply of broccoli biomass for ingredient production. Under the agreement, ESG will operate UPP’s selective harvester to automate the broccoli harvesting process.

Harvested side stream material will be supplied to UPP as a consistent feedstock, enabling both companies to unlock value from the biomass. The value to UPP over the five-year term of the partnership is expected to exceed £1 million, assuming multi-unit deployments from year two.

For farmers, UPP said its solution reduces dependency on casual harvest labour and mitigates labour-cost inflation, while also reducing crop loss caused by labour shortages and boosting efficiency for farms.

The partnership is structured so that ESG shares in the gross margin from UPP’s sale of upcycled ingredients, allowing growers to monetise side streams without additional operational risk or capital investment.

Andy Laing, business development director at East of Scotland Growers, said: “This collaboration improves farm profitability while contributing to a food system that is more sustainable and resilient”.

“We have been working with our supermarket partners to address Scope 3 emissions reduction, and working with UPP is helping us meet those goals.”

UPP recently celebrated a successful £3.5 million funding round, including a £1.5 million follow-on investment from climate-focused firm Elbow Beach.

Andy Summerfield, investor director at Elbow Beach, commented on the new partnership: “UPP’s partnership with East of Scotland Growers is exactly the kind of solution we want to support; transforming under-utilised agricultural biomass into high-value, nutritious ingredients while delivering meaningful economic returns to farmers”.

“By backing scalable solutions that reduce waste, lower emissions and strengthen supply-chain economics, we are helping accelerate the transition to a more sustainable and commercially robust food future.”