Blog
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Packaging Design for Plant Care Range
Jake has been hard at work in Photoshop on our branding and design elements for our first products. I really like the labels – I think they have lots of visual interest while also keeping things quite minimal. Understated elegance, hopefully. Is that what we’re going for? We’ve sampled a lot of bottles and we’ll…
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Tested on plants.
We’re not quite at full horticultural lab scale just yet, but we are enjoying running some basic tests on our plant care formulas and fertiliser products. Clare has been setting up carefully controlled conditions to run side-by-side experiments. Our first sample size – 4. Perhaps a bit on the small side for definitive new science,…
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Trays are stacking up.
We have acquired 280 blue plastic trays. The bioreactor is mostly insulated and (finally) has a door fitted. Though the wait to get into our production premises means the space is currently also full of steel poles and industrial sieves and the like. We’ve been working on automating at least parts of the feeding and…
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Machines – Slow boats from China?
We had identified some equipment we wanted to source from China. Partly because it’s theoretically much cheaper, but we also wanted some parts that aren’t widely made. Sadly that plan is on hold, at least temporarily. The situation in the Middle East and around the Suez Canal has driven insurance and shipping prices up quite…
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Exploring markets for BSFL frass
We’re farming insects because it is among the most efficient ways to produce protein and fats for animal and pet feed. However, we also make a significant co-product – frass. Frass is the waste excreted by insects as they grow, as well as their cast-off exokeletons from moulting, as well as undigested remains of the…
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Why insects? It’s not just about climate.
Farming insects is a climate-friendly move, but it also helps to solve the twin challenge of over-consumption and waste. Insects can help us complete the cycle of nutrients, fertilising our soils to keep them healthy for many more crops. The loss of insects and wider biodiversity is daunting, but with insect farming we can replace…
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You have to start the (bio)reactor.
Insect farming is a new industry which has a lot of really interesting startups. There are folks offering very high-tech solutions and even cutting-edge prototypes, but there isn’t any really established technology – it’s all still in the development phase. Technically, we need a bioreactor. That’s essentially just a controlled space for a biological reaction.…
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Location scouted – full steam ahead.
We have found our production and warehouse unit. It’s about 15 minutes away from the smallholding. We’ve agreed heads of terms and now need to go through the legal process to secure a lease. It’s a small, modern, efficient unit on a small industrial estate. Luckily Huddersfield has competitive rents for industrial space and we…
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Hello world… We are Allgood Farm
Hi! We are Ben, Jake and Clare, and this is the beginning of Allgood Farm Ltd. Or at least we’ve now registered the business and the website – so thunderbirds are go! We’re a small family business (siblings). We want to help drive innovation and green growth in farming and manufacturing. Our business plan is…