Stourgarden

What Stourgarden does

Stourgarden is a privately held, family-owned UK onion growing, grading, and packing business founded in 1967 by the Rix family in the Stour Valley and formally incorporated in 1995 by brothers Bill and John Rix. The company operates from a 550,000 square foot purpose-built facility at Lodge Farm in Great Horkesley, Colchester, processing over 110,000 tonnes of onions annually across 22 production lines and producing more than one million individual packs per week. Its two core product lines are wholehead onions (Brown, Red, and Pink varieties, plus Shallots and Garlic in pack formats from 500g to 25kg) and prepared onions (peeled, sliced, and diced) processed in a high care factory operating to ready-to-eat standards.

The technology stack centers on a state-of-the-art 8-lane optical grader using camera and AI computer vision for sizing and quality grading, complemented by traditional mechanical graders and a dedicated site technical team for both fresh and prepared operations. Stourgarden employs a seed-to-shelf model with direct grower networks across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Kent (some relationships spanning 20–30 years) supplemented by in-country procurement in Spain for specialist varieties.

The business operates a B2B sales-led model supplying industry-leading UK retailers, wholesalers, recipe box companies, fast food chains, and food processors through direct account management and quote-based pricing. Headcount exceeds 360 staff across packhouse, factory, and office operations. The company is B Corp Certified, among the first fresh produce companies to achieve this designation, and operates with no disclosed external institutional investors, private equity involvement, or parent company structure.

Name

Stourgarden

Legal name

Stourgarden Ltd

Website

https://stourgarden.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1967

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Stourgarden is a UK family-owned onion grower, grader, and packer founded in 1967, operating a 550,000 sq ft facility that processes over 110,000 tonnes annually and supplies wholehead and prepared onions to retailers, food service, and food manufacturers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Fresh Produce

NAICS

Vegetable and Melon Farming (11121), Other Vegetable (except Potato) and Melon Farming (111219)

SIC

Agricultural Production-Crops (100), Canned, Frozen & Preservd Fruit, Veg & Food Specialties (2030)

akta.pro primary industry

Root & Tuber Vegetable Farming (Carrots, Beets, Radish, Turnip, Sweet Potato) (AFAGADAC)

Keywords

• Onion growing
• Onion processing
• Fresh produce supply
• Prepared vegetables
• Wholehead onions

Headquarters

HQ city

Colchester

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Wholehead Onion Sales: Sale of wholehead onions in various pack formats from 500g to 25kg for Brown, Red & Pink onions as well as Shallots and Garlic
2. Prepared Onion Products: Supply of peeled, sliced and diced onions to retail, fast food and food manufacturers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Stourgarden grows, grades, packs, and prepares onions through a fully integrated seed-to-shelf operation. It supplies two main product lines — wholehead onions (Brown, Red, Pink, Shallots, Garlic in packs from 500g to 25kg) and prepared onions (peeled, sliced, diced, ready-to-eat) — to UK retailers, wholesalers, recipe box companies, fast food chains, and food manufacturers, handling over one million packs and 100,000+ tonnes of onions per year.

Product overview

Stourgarden operates a unified onion growing, grading, and packing operation with two core product lines: Wholehead Onions (Brown, Red, Pink varieties, Shallots, and Garlic in formats from 500g to 25kg) and Prepared Onions (peeled, sliced, and diced onions processed in their advanced ready-to-eat factory). The company employs a seed-to-shelf model with complete control from growing through to packing, handling over 1 million packs weekly with state-of-the-art optical grading technology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wholehead Onions

Quantifiable outcome

• Handles over 1 million individual packs of onions every week
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• Spanish Onion and Garlic GrowerssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner growers in Spain who supply specialist onion varieties to complement UK production. Miriam is based in Spain as in-country procurement to ensure quality and timely delivery from these growers.
• UK Grower NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of trusted growers in Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Kent. Stourgarden has built excellent foundations over 30 years with these growers, including nearly 20-year relationships with key partners like Wix Farms. Growers include Johnnie Jiggens at Wix Farms who provides testimonial endorsement.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bakkavor Group: Bakkavor is the UK's largest provider of fresh prepared foods (salads, vegetables, ready meals, desserts, bread) to major grocers including Tesco, Sainsbury's, and M&S. Like Stourgarden, it operates high-care prepared factories using B2B direct-supply models with UK retailers, and Peeled; and operates ready-to-eat vegetable processing facilities — functionally the closest UK peer to Stourgarden's prepared onion factory.
• Fresca Group: Fresca Group is a UK fresh produce supplier combining farming, packing, and marketing of vegetables, salads, and alliums to major retailers. Its vertical integration, packhouse operations, and direct relationships with UK supermarkets mirror Stourgarden's operating model.
• Greencore Group: Greencore is a leading UK and Irish manufacturer of convenience foods, including prepared sandwiches, salads, and prepared vegetables supplied to major UK grocers and food service operators. Like Stourgarden's prepared onion factory, it operates B2B high-care facilities with similar food-safety and retailer compliance requirements.
• G's Fresh: G's is one of the UK's largest fresh produce growers and packers, supplying supermarkets with salads, vegetables, and alliums from UK and European farms. It shares Stourgarden's grower-to-retailer model, scale of field operations, and Packhouse infrastructure for fresh vegetables sold into major UK grocers.
• Peri & Sons Farms: Peri & Sons is one of the largest US onion growers, packers, and shippers, operating vertically integrated farms, storage, and packhouses — a direct onion-category peer to Stourgarden's onion growing and packing operations. They share field-scale, packhouse technology, and direct relationships with major retailers.

Broad incumbents

• Taylor Farms: Taylor Farms is the largest US producer of fresh-cut salads and prepared vegetables, supplying retail, foodservice, and QSR chains. Its fresh-prepared factory model, ready-to-eat standards, and QSR customer base are directly comparable to Stourgarden's prepared onion business, though at much larger scale and broader product scope.
• Ardo Group: Ardo is a leading European producer of frozen vegetables (including peas, beans, spinach, and alliums) supplying retail and food service. Its European scale, field-to-packhouse operating model, and B2B retail customer base are broadly comparable to Stourgarden's prepared offerings, though focused on frozen rather than fresh.
• Bonduelle Group: Bonduelle is a France-headquartered global leader in processed vegetables (canned, frozen, fresh) with a long-standing focus on allium and root crops. It is a broad incumbent in the European vegetable processing category alongside Stourgarden's prepared onion operations, though with a much larger and more diversified portfolio.

Regional players

• Berry World (Berry Gardens): Berry World is a UK fresh berry supplier combining grower networks, packhouse operations, and direct retail supply to major UK grocers. While focused on berries rather than alliums, it shares Stourgarden's UK grower-marketer model and direct-supply retailer structure.
• Total Berry (Total Worldfresh): Total Berry is a UK fresh produce supplier of berries, vegetables, and alliums to UK and European retailers. Its packhouse operations and B2B retailer supply model are comparable to Stourgarden's, though on a smaller product scale and primarily berry-weighted.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/stourgarden
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stourgarden-limited
• Instagraminstagram.com/stourgarden
• Xx.com/stourgarden

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 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 Stourgarden