The Watercress Company

What The Watercress Company does

The Watercress Company is the UK's largest watercress grower, holding 80% of UK retail watercress market share and producing 0.5 million bags weekly with annual sales exceeding £55 million. The company cultivates Nasturtium Officinale (watercress) in mineral-rich spring water-fed aquatic beds across 16 hectares of UK farmland in Dorset and Hampshire, supplemented by farms in Jerez, Spain (Royalcress and Finca Fui) established in 1984 to enable year-round supply. Core technology centres on pesticide-free cultivation since 2000, custom-built harvesters with shaker belts that remove insects while preserving aquatic biodiversity, and chilled processing within one hour of harvest. The company obtained Traditional Speciality Guarantee (TSG) certification in 2025 (UK Scheme F0085), legally protecting the term "watercress" for aquatic-grown product and excluding land cress producers.

The business operates a multi-channel go-to-market combining direct supply to national UK supermarket chains (Tesco, M&S) and sandwich manufacturers with distributor-led supply to restaurants, country pubs, Michelin-star venues, and catering businesses. Product range includes fresh watercress in bag and punnet formats, sandwich-grade baby watercress, organic certified watercress (Soil Association UK, CAAE Spain), watercress powder exported to the USA, and watercress leaves for European menus. The company is certified under Global GAP, Red Tractor, Leaf Marque, SEDEX, and pursues Zerya residue-free accreditation for Spanish operations. Beyond fresh produce, the company supplies watercress for clinical research and is developing watercress extract applications through Watercress Research Limited in partnership with the University of Exeter Medical School for cosmeceutical and potential therapeutic uses.

Revenue mechanics are transaction-based across B2B channels with negotiated pricing through distributors, retailers, and food service operators; specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. Customer segments span enterprise (national retailers, sandwich manufacturers, Lush cosmetics), SMB (local distilleries, brewers, butchers using watercress as ingredient), and end consumers via retail. The company was founded on watercress farms dating to the 1850s, is headquartered in Dorchester, UK, and operates with 11-50 employees plus seasonal staff from April to October. Leadership includes Managing Director and Partner Tom Amery (since 2007, partner since 2011), Hampshire Watercress Manager Sean Ede (33 years growing watercress), and Wasabi Manager Jon Old. Ownership is privately held with no disclosed external institutional investment.

Name

The Watercress Company

Legal name

The Watercress Company Ltd

Website

https://thewatercresscompany.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Watercress Company is the UK's largest watercress grower, holding 80% UK retail market share. It cultivates pesticide-free Nasturtium Officinale in spring water beds across UK and Spanish farms, supplying fresh and powdered watercress to supermarkets, sandwich manufacturers, restaurants, food innovators, and cosmeceutical research partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fresh Produce / Leafy Greens

NAICS

Vegetable and Melon Farming (1112)

akta.pro primary industry

Hydroponic & Soilless Greenhouse Production (NFT, DWC, Substrate Grow Bags) (AFAGAHAI)

Keywords

• Fresh watercress supply
• Leafy greens farming
• Pesticide-free produce
• Aquatic crop cultivation
• Food ingredient supply

Headquarters

HQ city

Dorchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations

Revenue model

1. Fresh Watercress Sales - Retail: Sale of fresh watercress to national supermarket chains and independent retailers. Products include baby watercress for sandwiches, standard bunches, and bagged watercress. Approximately 0.5 million bags sold weekly in the UK.
2. Food Service and Restaurant Supply: Supply of watercress to restaurants, catering companies, and hospitality businesses. Distributed through local and national distributors in various bag sizes or punnets.
3. Ingredient Supply to Food Manufacturers: Supply of watercress as an ingredient to food innovators for use in soups, sauces, pestos, ice cream, gin, sausages, cosmetics, and other products. This includes supplying watercress powders to USA and leaves to European menus.
4. Sandwich Watercress: Specialist baby watercress grown for sandwich manufacturers, sold as an ingredient for egg or salmon sandwiches and ready meals.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Watercress Company is the UK's largest watercress grower, cultivating fresh watercress (Nasturtium Officinale) in mineral-rich spring water beds across UK farms in Dorset and Hampshire and Spanish farms in Jerez. The company sells fresh, organic, and residue-free watercress in bag and punnet formats to national supermarket chains, independent retailers, restaurants, sandwich manufacturers, and food ingredient innovators. It also produces watercress powder for export and supplies watercress to academic research institutions.

Product overview

The Watercress Company is the UK's largest watercress grower, operating farms in Dorset and Hampshire (UK) and Jerez, Spain. The core product is fresh watercress cultivated in mineral-rich spring water beds, sold to major UK retailers, restaurants, caterers, and food manufacturers. Product portfolio includes fresh watercress in various formats (bag, punnet), sandwich watercress for food service, organic certified watercress, and residue-free watercress from pesticide-free farming since 2000. The company also grows wasabi through The Wasabi Company subsidiary and supplies watercress for clinical research collaborations. Year-round supply is maintained through UK and Spanish farms, with 80% UK market share.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Love Watercress: Brand name used for social media competition entries and Facebook page.

Products and services

• Fresh Watercress Fresh watercress (Nasturtium Officinale) cultivated in mineral-rich spring water beds across UK farms in Dorset and Hampshire and Spanish farms in Jerez, sold in bag and punnet sizes to retailers, restaurants, and caterers.
• Sandwich Watercress Baby watercress grown specifically for sandwich and wrap manufacturers, used as leaf fillings including egg or salmon sandwiches, wraps, and ready meals.
• Restaurant and Catering Watercress Watercress supplied to restaurants, pubs, cafés, and catering businesses in a range of bag sizes or punnets through national and local distributors.
• Organic Watercress Organically certified watercress produced under Soil Association certification in the UK and CAAE certification in Spain.
• Watercress Powder Dried watercress powder exported to the USA and used by food innovators for nutraceuticals, beverages, cosmetics, and culinary applications.
• Watercress Research Supply Supply of fresh watercress and technical knowledge to research institutions conducting clinical studies on watercress health properties, including universities in Exeter, Southampton, Ulster, and Bournemouth.

Quantifiable outcome

• 88.4% reduction in phosphate fertiliser use between 2007 and 2018
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Watercress Research LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWatercress Research Limited was co-founded by Dr Kyle Stewart and Professor Paul Winyard from University of Exeter Medical School. The company has developed a process to manufacture aqueous watercress extract containing isothiocyanates and flavonoid-type polyphenols for potential skincare applications. Research has shown anti-inflammatory properties of watercress extract for eczema treatment.
• University of Exeter Medical SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic research partnership for watercress health studies. Dr Kyle Stewart is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and MSB Group Innovation Fellow. The university collaborated on eczema research showing anti-inflammatory effects of watercress extract.
• Bournemouth UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration with Dr Sumanto Haldar, Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences.
• Aquilina Environmental (Robert Aquilina)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent freshwater ecologist Robert Aquilina has been conducting macroinvertebrate surveys and ecological monitoring on watercress farms since 2016. Surveys demonstrate good water quality and biodiversity improvements, with 1.7 billion insects thriving on farms.
• Northumbria UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessor Mihalis I. Panagiotidis from the Department of Applied Sciences provides research insights on isothiocyanates and phytochemicals in watercress.
• Brighton University (Asa White)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAsa White from Brighton University conducting PhD research on effects of watercress farming and salad crop washing on macroinvertebrate and fish populations in chalk streams.
• Southampton UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMasters student research on drift of Gammarus and parasitism using discharge point at Manor Farm as research location.
• Game and Wildlife Conservation TrustminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration providing access to sites for electrofishing to measure and tag salmon and trout in the River Frome in Dorset, tracking migration and population numbers.
• Upper Itchen InitiativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompany representatives attend meetings of this group focused on protection of Upper Itchen river catchment, comprising statutory bodies, landowners, and stakeholders.
• Test and Itchen Catchment PartnershipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompany is a supporter of the lottery-funded Watercress and Winterbournes project and member of NFU Watercress Association.
• Salmon and Trout Conservation UKminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMeetings held with conservation group regarding phosphate levels in discharge water and environmental protection measures.
• Cyprus Institute of Neurology & GeneticsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch collaboration finding that watercress extract rich in PEITC can selectively kill melanoma cells.
• The Wasabi CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJon Old heads up Team Wasabi at The Wasabi Company, which is part of the same business group as The Watercress Company, growing wasabi alongside watercress.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Total Produce / Dole plc: Global fresh produce giant with extensive operations across salads, vegetables, and fruits, supplying retailers worldwide. Comparable as a broad incumbent across fresh produce, though vastly larger and not specialised in watercress.
• Taylor Farms: One of the largest fresh produce processors in North America, offering salads, vegetables, and fresh-cut products to retail and foodservice. Comparable as a broad incumbent in fresh produce with overlapping product formats and channels, though operating at far greater scale and in a different geography.
• Fresh Express (Chiquita): US packaged salads and fresh-cut produce leader owned by Chiquita. Comparable as a broad incumbent in fresh-cut leafy greens with overlapping retail and foodservice channels, though operating at much larger scale and focused on mass-market products.
• Earthbound Farm (WhiteWave/Danone): Leading US organic salad and specialty greens brand. Comparable as a broad incumbent in organic/specialty leafy greens with overlapping retail channels and consumer positioning, though much larger and based in the US.

Direct peers

• Angus Soft Fruits: UK grower of soft fruits and salads supplying major UK retailers. Comparable as a UK-based fresh produce grower with similar supermarket distribution and seasonal supply-chain complexity.
• G's Fresh: One of the UK's largest fresh produce growers and suppliers, operating across salads, vegetables, and herbs. Comparable as a UK fresh-produce peer supplying national retailers and foodservice operators with similar leafy/specialty greens.
• Berry Gardens Growers: UK berry and stone-fruit grower cooperative supplying major retailers. Comparable as a UK fresh-produce grower marketing produce to national supermarket chains under tight compliance and quality standards.
• Vitacress (HMC Farms / VHB): Vitacress is the largest UK grower of fresh watercress and culinary herbs alongside other leafy salads. Direct overlap with The Watercress Company in watercress cultivation, UK retailer supply, and herb/specialty leaf category, making it the closest comparable peer.

Others

• The Wasabi Company: Sister company operating under the same parent group as The Watercress Company, growing wasabi in similar chalk-stream spring-water conditions. Comparable because of shared agronomy, distribution overlap, and management, though it operates in a different but adjacent specialty crop.

Emerging players

• Salad Harvest / Isle of Wight Tomatoes: UK specialty fresh-produce grower focused on tomatoes, salad leaves, and microgreens. Comparable as a niche UK specialty greens grower serving premium retail and foodservice channels with high-value fresh produce.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/TheWatercressCo
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/TheWatercressCompany
• Facebookfacebook.com/LoveWatercress
• Instagraminstagram.com/thewatercressco
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-watercress-company-limited

Compliance10 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Watercress Company