Based in Wellington, Shoots was born with a vision to grow an amazing array of incredible microgreens sourced from around the world, offering New Zealand chefs incredible taste, texture and colour options for their dishes. With products grown indoors, the business provides produce all year round with astonishing consistency.
Shoots started around 12 months ago by developing their initial racking and growing system. With lots of trial and error to find the perfect growing medium, they have since expanded the number of racks on which they are growing, increasing product range and building a great group of loyal restaurants throughout Wellington.
“Our learning curve is really steep, and the old adage of two steps forward and one back is true, as we’re trying something that hasn’t been done in New Zealand at this scale before,” said Matt Keltie, agronomist and co-founder of Shoots.
Shoots are focused on microgreens because they love what they offer the customer- dense flavours and vivid colours.
“At the moment we offer ten microgreen varieties and are continually experimenting with new varieties our chefs have suggested we produce. From a very lemony Sorrel to a peppery Shiso to a nutty Amaranth to a spicy Coriander, we love the breadth of complex flavours our varieties contain.”
Some of the more exotic new products the company are set to roll out include popcorn shoots, ice crystal plants – with an amazing texture, and oyster plants.
The advantages to vertical farming include enabling them to produce a high density of produce in a small space due to the creation of an enclosed system with the perfect conditions to provide a year-round, consistent variety.
The company’s environmental footprint is small. “We recycle everything – from the water we use in our hydroponic growing systems to the trays we grow our microgreens in and deliver to the restaurants. Our growing medium is a natural, decompostible fibre. Our deliveries are made on foot or by electric bike, limiting our carbon footprint. Because indoor plants are fed by fertiliser either delivered through water, they get only what they need. The water is reused and recycled. There’s no wasted water or runoff, which translates to no algae blooms in river, lakes and estuaries. And our water usage is up to 95 percent less than conventional growing systems.”
Thanks to the effectiveness of enclosed systems, the team have been able to remove the volatility in climate; explaining how the company achieves consistency through all seasons, usually a difficult task.
Shoots prides itself on fantastic customer relationships and are continually inviting feedback on which new varieties were favourites and how to use them best.
The team’s favourite part of the job is discovering every day new and better ways of growing its expanding range of products, then hearing what chefs are saying about it. “We’ve had lots of setbacks, but we’re more excited than ever that this can be a new model of food production for New Zealand,” said Keltie.
Shoots currently supply to restaurants throughout Wellington’s CBD and have goals to expand into Auckland and Christchurch before long, and at some point, offer a retail product in supermarkets.
