NEW TECH FOODS

Upcycled Plant Power, a UK food-tech company creating sustainable protein products from previously wasted broccoli crops, has received £3.5 million in a recent investment round.

Upcycled Plant Power (UPP) provides hypoallergenic, plant-based protein and fibre ingredients for food manufacturers seeking to decarbonise their products. Applications for the ingredients range from plant-based meat alternatives to soups and sauces, baked goods, and pet food.

By pairing automated broccoli harvesting with the upcycling of 70% of the plant typically discarded, UPP transforms a high-waste crop into a dual-revenue system that can cut Scope 3 emissions and support UK food security and nutrition goals.

Participants in the investment round include climate-focused investment firm Elbow Beach, which contributed £1.5 million. The start-up also received £500,000 in government grants supporting UPP through to first revenues.

The funding will support the scaling of UPP’s self-powered robotic harvesting system, Harvesta, which identifies market-ready broccoli heads in real time. It will also support launches of UPP’s Prota (protein) and Fiba (fibre) ingredients to the UK market.

UPP’s 2025 Harvesta mode, trialled successfully in Lincolnshire and Scotland, can harvest three rows simultaneously at up to 5 km per hour. This aims to transform the harvest economics of a crop that is typically picked manually, while accelerating the supply of side-stream material UPP uses in its patent-filed food ingredient production process.

Mark Evans, CEO of UPP, said: “UPP is redefining how we produce plant protein, using under-utilised parts from the crops we already grow, without requiring additional land, water or emissions”.

“Our technology turns what was once waste into a cost-effective, nutritious, hypoallergenic food ingredient, directly supporting farmers, manufacturers and the planet.”