Wine from an urban vineyard in London’s Kings Cross could hit the market in 2011, following an agreement between breakfast cereals manufacturer Alara Wholefoods and the Urban Wine Company.
Alara, which was the UK’s first cereal firm to make certified organic and Fairtrade products, is converting the south-facing stretch of a plot of wasteland behind its factory into a vineyard as part of a wider project to drive consumption of locally produced food.
The land is also home to more than 50 varieties of plants, such as pomegranate trees, three beehives and the company’s compost heap.
The Rhondo grapes grown at the site will be processed by the Urban Wine Company, a fledgling firm set up to help small British growers get into wine production without having to invest in their own equipment. In turn, the firm works with West Sussex-based Bookers Vineyard.
Alara’s founder and director, Alex Smith said: “Many people dream of owning vineyards and we hope that by showing people in London it can be done on their doorsteps we’ll see a lot more areas of wasteland turning into community vineyards.”
Richard Sharp from the Urban Wine Company said parts of Britain were well suited for grape cultivation: “Many people think that the UK is a terrible place for grape growing but they couldn’t be more wrong, and there exists a considerable range of both white and red grape varieties that grow well [in the UK].”
Despite the recent declines in organic food and drink sales highlighted by market researchers Nielsen and TNS, Alara’s £5M muesli business was continuing to flourish, with strong sales in multiple retailers including Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose as well as a wide variety of independent retailers, caterers, wholesalers and export customers, said Smith. “Our business is actually growing by 20% year-on-year. We’ve got a very loyal customer base.”
While the weakness of sterling had pushed up purchasing costs for some of the firm’s more exotic dried fruit ingredients, it had also made it more competitive as an exporter, he added.
Alara, which employs 50 staff producing more than 70t of organic muesli a week, has pledged to become carbon-neutral by next year.
The wine produced from the Kings Cross vineyard would hopefully be sold to local restaurants, said Smith.