2 minute read
Urban microgreen operation expanding up the country
URBAN MICROGREEN OPERATION
EXPANDING UP THE COUNTRY
Helena O’Neill
Bibhas (Benji) Biswas runs urban microgreen operation Crunchy in Invercargill
New commercial premises for Southland microgreen grower Crunchy will allow increased production and help propel expansion into the North Island.
In February Bibhas (Benji) Biswas moved his urban farming operation from the garage and backyard of his family home in Invercargill to a 600m2 commercial building in the inner city. Benji says the warehouse offers 500m2 of growing space, with the remainder as office space. When Crunchy first started up as a one-man operation in 2019 it was solely supplying restaurants, but then the pandemic hit. By last year Crunchy was supplying 40 restaurants, cafés, hotels and shops, but ongoing Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns continued to put pressure on the hospitality industry. Moving into retail stores saw sales increase ten-fold in about six months, meaning Benji needed to find a larger space for growing. Now Benji employs one other full-time staff member along with five part-time workers and hopes to create another full-time role to take on the administration side of things to free Benji up for marketing and product development. Benji’s ongoing vision is to keep finding new possibilities for microgreens while minimising any food waste. With the shifting of the business from the family home to commercial premises, Benji now has the space at home to run his research and development projects. Crunchy products are stocked in New World, Pak’nSave, SuperValue and Four Square across the South Island, with stores in the lower North Island beginning to sell Crunchy microgreens from mid-March. Benji hopes to do a deal with Progressive Enterprises and get his products into Countdown stores too.
Creating a business just before a pandemic and keeping it afloat is a challenge, one that Benji says requires you to be willing to adapt in an ever-changing environment.
This month [April] Benji plans to launch a new product range – dehydrated microgreens.
These will be available as a salt blend, pepper blend, and straight dehydrated microgreens. “Why only salt when you can add goodness and value to your food? It’s another way for customers to try our microgreens.“ The dehydrated microgreens also allow Crunchy to reduce its food waste, Benji says. “I’m really excited to bring that into reality.“
He also hopes to be able to launch the dehydrated products in the Australian market as he believes there’s nothing else of its kind currently available. In January, Benji was awarded the Meridian Energy One to Watch while the business received the PowerNet New and Emerging Award at the Southland Business Excellence Awards. “It was fantastic to be recognised and it encourages me to try more things.“
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