26 Jun UC Abroad: The United Kingdom
UC Abroad is a recurring feature written by our CEO Tarren Wolfe, discussing his travels abroad and introducing Urban Cultivator to people and creating a #freshnewworld one country at a time.
The UK is one of my favorite places to visit. How could you hate a place that has the best fish and chips in the world?
Our trip this time around was pretty hectic, but we got together with some of our favorite people.
On the first day, we were picked up by Antony, who’s the Head of Marketing at CCS/Bunzl, one of our distributors. We got to see the CCS/Bunzl showroom, and they also gave us a very cool behind-the-scenes glimpse.
Look at all those Cultivators! There’s nothing more exciting for me than a fresh new batch of Cultivators.
Later, we met with Steve from CCS/Bunzl. Steve’s one of the top sales reps at CCS/Bunzl, and he showed us some of the early adopters of the Urban Cultivator.
Michelin star Chef James Close of The Raby Hunt Restaurant uses the Cultivator to help emphasize his farm-to-table message.
This beautifully quaint restaurant, which has a one-room suite above it, is situated in the amazing UK countryside and offers bold flavors made with lots of love.
After visiting Chef Close, we drove out to see Ken Holland with Antony.
Ken has been one of the top growers in the UK for the past 10 years, turning away customers for the right to supply unique microgreens and edible flowers to the chefs whom he chooses.
With a wide array of Michelin star chefs, Ken keeps one step ahead by growing some of the most unique flavours in the world.
We got to try: oyster leaf, which cost $10 per 30 leaves and tastes exactly like an oyster complete, with a salt water finish; Mexican marigold, which changed in flavor once it was in your mouth, starting with a citrus note and later developed an apple flavor; and electric daisy, which was like eating a jolt of electricity.
For me, electric daisies were the coolest. Chefs are having fun playing with this leaf that was once used for dental pain relief before the big pharmaceuticals came around.
We walked around excitedly as Ken cut off leafs and let us call out the myriad of flavours we were experiencing.
Ken is now growing in the Cultivators and now incorporates the new with the old at his 300-year-old farm complete with castle in some of the most picturesque British countryside.
It’s always awesome to hang out with like-minded people, and to see that our machines are supported by some of the best businesses in the game, well, that’s just a bonus.
Until next time!
Tarren