A big focus for us this year is our environmental performance at Dragons Garden. We are continuing to strive towards achieving a zero ecological footprint by conserving, restoring and replacing the natural resources we use in our operations.
Our most recent investment is solar panels, which now cover the entire roof of one of our factory buildings, as you can see in the pictures. This is a really exciting development for us, and we now expect to be able to power at least 75% of production using solar energy.
How to dispose of waste is a huge issue in food factories. Fruit waste from our factory is used as fodder for local livestock, and our wastewater is treated on site. As you might expect, we use large volumes of water, which we source sustainably from our own well. All wastewater is then ‘recycled’ through a series of settling and aerating tanks in our on-site water treatment facility. Once treated, the water is then pumped back to our farms for irrigation.
The water pumped from our well is also used in our biomass boiler. The water is purified to reduce electrical conduction, before being fed into the wood chip boiler (these are largely compressed pine tree roots). The cold-water pipes going to the boiler run over the water exchange exhaust, which increases efficiency as it cools the exhaust while warming the water to ~50-60°C. The water is then pumped over a second heat exchange, which warms the water to nearly 90°C before entering the boiler, therefore less heating is needed to bring the water to the boil. Wood ash from the boiler can then be used on the fields to maintain proper soil pH.
A cornerstone of our business continues to be organic farming, which is how Dragons Garden started, over twenty-five years ago! We now have a second farm in conversion which will achieve full organic certification in 2025. Our main crop on the organic farms is strawberry, though we also grow organic vegetables. To avoid disease, we implement a three-year crop rotation system with wheat. We’ve had good yield from our organic strawberry harvest this year, with beautiful fruit.
Finally, we’re pleased to say our company car and fleet van are electric and we’ve now installed electric charging points at the factory. Small steps can make a big difference!
