Interviews

Canada Water facility in Broadwick’s live music, food and drink venue, aims to reconnect people to where ingredients come from via tours

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“For me, food is tradition, community, family – something that brings people together,” said Adam Abadi, operations manager at Harvest London.

“It can be something that’s lost nowadays where everyone’s at desks on their phones or screens, not looking at or engaging with others. 

“We can lose that connection with our food and each other.

“What we’re doing here in Canada Water is an opportunity to change that.”

Stood in the company’s facility at Corner Corner at Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, the very placement of the farm is part of that mission.

The south-east London venue recently celebrated its first birthday and every single visitor to the venue over the past 12 months will have seen its plants basking under their LEDs through the facility’s glass walls. 

But the tightly sealed space is much more than a brightly-lit backdrop to Kerb’s street food, drinks at the bar, beats from the DJ booth and free live music from the stage. 

Broadwick’s emerald green refurb of a retail space that once housed The Range includes this fully functional agricultural operation where a staff of five tend to a wide variety of crops.

Better still, the produce can be sampled on-site via cocktails and dishes on sale from Corner Corner’s vendors – food metres rather than food miles.

“I’ve been working in vertical farming for the past six years across London, having got into agriculture in Australia where I was looking at how plants actually grow and the different ways of doing that closer to the consumer,” said Adam.

“I was born and raised in London and the way we use water, pesticides, herbicides, shoot animals and erect fences on farms was a bit of a shock to me. 

“We’re so used to going down to Tesco or the local corner shop and buying sandwiches wrapped in plastic, we don’t tend to think about how those ingredients are grown or where they come from.

“We don’t consider the processes, people, businesses and logistics involved in growing them and getting them to our plates.

“As an urban farmer, that’s why I want to engage with people to help them understand why we do what we do and what it means for urban populations.”

expanding Harvest London

Harvest London was founded by Chris Davies and Matt Chlebek in 2017 and launched its Corner Corner facility in 2025.

But what does it actually produce?

“The farm operates all year round, 24-hours a day,” said Adam.

“We’re about 190sq m of space and within that we’re able to make use of about 400sq m of growing space because of our vertical design.

“One of the key questions is how much you can grow in the smallest space possible. One name for what we’re doing is ‘environment controlled agriculture’. 

“It means we work with technology to grow our crops.

“The plants need a perfect environment to grow efficiently and effectively.

“There’s a lot of precision involved, a lot of accuracy.

“The farm is around 22ºC and about 60% humidity – it’s like a really perfect day in Tuscany. 

“With traditional farming, a lot of the time you’re guessing – pouring water and fertiliser here or there. 

“With the kind of vertical farming we’re doing, you can see the exact amount of water we need to use.

“As a result we can use fewer resources – typically about 90% less water and 75% less fertiliser as well as considerably less land.

“Our irrigation system sends water full of nutrients right to the plants’ roots and then it comes back into the tanks so it can be re-dosed and recirculated.

“We save as much as possible.”

growing food for the capital

Harvest London is also able to grow its plants without pesticides or herbicides.

Ahead of our tour, we don hair nets and shoe coverings before entering the space. 

Tightly controlling the farm helps protect the plants from unwanted contaminants and pests, meaning chemical intervention isn’t needed.   

The business has grown more than 100 species of plants in its facilities since launch with popular products including basil, mustard greens, kale, parsley, coriander and Peruvian black mint.

Its clients include the likes of Pizza Pilgrims and Ole And Steen as well as local businesses such as The Pear Tree and Pizza 1889, also based at Surrey Quays Shopping Centre.

“The process differs slightly depending on what we’re growing,” said Hari Sasidharan, farm manager at the Canada Water facility. 

“We plant our seeds on jute – there’s no soil used at any point during the process. Sometimes we use a machine to help distribute them.

“Then we wrap the trays and keep them in darkness until they have germinated.

“Then we place them under the lights. Sometimes we manually re-plant the seedlings.

“Some plants need more space to grow – we leave gaps in the trays of basil, for example, so they have plenty of room.

“Usually the plants develop more or less at the same speed as they all get the same treatment.”

At every level, the farm is verdant with life, making it simple to see why chefs and brands view the produce as an attractive option.

We taste a few leaves and are rewarded with the rich pungency of basil, the spice of its Thai cousin, the zing of mustard and the unexpected delicacy of baby kale.

rapid quality

“All the plants we grow are premium quality,” said Adam.

“Generally we’re able to produce them two or three times faster than traditional outdoor environments.

“The lighting they are under is a combination of daylight and red light to encourage growth – each species has its own recipe.

“The fact we can turn them over more quickly means they spend less time in our system and so we use less power and fewer resources to nurture them.

“It’s very exciting to be part of the vertical farming industry, especially over the last five to 10 years.

“A lot of investment is going into the sector and it’s entering its next phase.

“Everyone is coming into it with really good intentions – growing crops closer to consumers.

“Companies like ourselves, having been in business for nearly a decade are still going and we’re still expanding.

“We’re seeing more farms pop up.

“It’s not a silver bullet for every problem in the food industry, but my opinion is having more farms like this, bringing people back to more sustainable food and showing them where those ingredients come from is an important thing.

“A lot of the time agriculture is hidden out of sight, which is a shame.

“I think that having this kind of farming into public spaces is special, especially in urban environments like Corner Corner.”

key details: Harvest London

Harvest London is located at Corner Corner in Canada Water in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre.

Tours of the facility can be booked  through the venue’s website.

You can find out more about Harvest London here.

tried + tested: Chick’n’Sours

Corner Corner is many things.

The Canada Water venue, a short walk over Asif Khan’s sweeping red bridge from the station, boasts deep green walls and a chunky event space, formerly home to the underwhelming “immersive” take on Minecraft.

In addition to Harvest London, it’s also a live music venue, home to a regular series of DJ performances and a drinking spot with food from two vendors operated in partnership with Kerb.

There are comfy sofas, creamy plywood and plenty of chairs and tables.

The vibe is of a market hall, even if there are only a duo of traders on offer.

That’s not to say, of course, that the food’s not worth a visit.

While Sireli serves up Armenian dishes alongside a decent Cheeseburger (£14  including fries), it’s Chick’n’Sours that catches my eye.

Its Thai Chicken Salad with herbs, I believe, from the vertical farm, is a steal  for £10. Generous, juicy tenders sit atop a crunchy bowl of shredded carrot, mooli, beansprouts and spring onion.

While initially it looks a little stingy in size, the sheer density of this nutrient-rich offering turns out to be the ideal portion, generously doused in Nahm Jim Dressing, Sriracha Sour Cream and crispy shallots.

On our visit, the events space was hosting a market by Playing Outside, a welcome, vibrant collection of makers and traders selling art, clothing, scents and jewellery. Alongside the free live music, this is a place worth visiting.

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4/5

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