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Future with around £ 10 per kilogram for standard British strawberries— a notable 50 percent price premium in an era where households are already squeezed by rising living costs.
This raises an essential question: If high tech farming produces high quality food, can it also produce affordable food?
The answer lies in scale and collaboration. When a single grower bears the full cost of energy, heat, CO₂, water recycling, automation and labor, prices inevitably rise. But when these systems are designed at a regional, industrial scale, costs should fall as seen in the successful model in the Netherlands. Ultimately affordable high tech produce is possible— but only through integrated, shared infrastructure.
The case for a collaborative food manufacturing ecosystem
If CEA is to reach mainstream affordability, the UK must treat modern greenhouses as components of wider industrial ecosystems rather than standalone facilities.
This means integrating agriculture with:
• Energy networks: capturing waste heat from industry, using district heating, and connecting farms to low carbon energy sources.
• Waste to resource systems: converting organic waste into renewable power, repurposing CO₂ streams, and recycling water efficiently.
• Technology providers: embedding robotics, AI, sensors and automation developed by UK engineers into agricultural settings.
• Retailers and supply chains: forming long term partnerships that give growers the stability required to invest in new infrastructure.
• Government policy: providing targeted incentives and reforming energy markets to support strategic food manufacturing.
This collaborative approach mirrors the model that has enabled the Netherlands to become one of the world’ s most productive and competitive greenhouse producers— built on coordinated heat networks, shared logistics, dedicated subsidies and strong government industry alignment.
If the UK embraces similar cross sector integration, the economics of CEA shift from premium novelty to scalable, affordable reality.
Manufacturing a more secure food future
Re shoring food production is not simply about reducing imports. It is about resilience, sustainability and national capability. High tech greenhouses can help the UK reduce exposure to global supply chain shocks, lower food miles, cut emissions, create high value agritech jobs and provide consistent supply. But without tackling affordability, the transition will fall short. And without collaboration, affordability will remain out of reach. Britain’ s future food system cannot depend on a handful of advanced facilities or individual visionaries. It must be built on shared infrastructure, shared investment, shared innovation and shared responsibility.
If the UK can align energy policy, industrial strategy, agritech innovation and agricultural capability, it can build a new kind of food system— one that is sustainable, resilient, and genuinely competitive.
A system where high tech British produce isn’ t a luxury for the few, but an affordable staple for the many. ■
Tristan Holiday www. bearingpoint. com
Tristan Holiday is Senior Manager at independent management and technology consulting firm, BearingPoint. An independent management and technology consultancy with European roots, BearingPoint’ s global network spans over 70 countries and 13,000 people, operating in three business units: consulting, products, and capital.
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