Automated Broccoli Harvester

Around 75,000 tonnes of broccoli are grown and harvested by hand each year in the UK. The NFU believes that increases in the National Living Wage combined with difficulties of bringing in labour in the event of Brexit may make this unsustainable for many growers, driving crop production to low cost countries. The development of a fully automated harvesting system is therefore crucial for UK growers. Two major Cornish growers and marketeers of broccoli have come together to invest in the design and delivery of an automated commercial broccoli harvester to replace the manual system. The purchase of this is part of a grant funded application process and therefore procurement will be subject to grant approval of the project as a whole. We will compare tenders received on a compliance basis only.