About Us
Responding to the urgent crisis in food security
Our Mission
The world's population is expected to increase by two billion over the next 30 years, from 7.7 billion currently to 9.7 billion in 2050. Our current agricultural practices are unsustainable and we will not be able to feed the world’s population as it grows. The rise of extreme weather events and climate change will have increasingly negative effects on food production. It is clear that global food production is facing a tangible and present threat and we all need to respond urgently to find the solutions that will prevent major crises.
Liberty Produce is a farming technology company founded in 2018 to respond to this urgent crisis in food security. We build leading-edge technology that enables the growth of local produce year-round, using fully-controlled indoor vertical farming systems.
"Our vision is to drive innovations that will
enable us to meet our global crop requirements
over the next century, without harming the planet."
Vertical farming cannot currently compete with traditionally farmed produce in terms of cost. Liberty exists to push the boundaries of this technology -- we are constantly working with our customers to produce more efficient, more cost effective, better integrated solutions. With expertise in lighting and nutrient delivery technology, we build systems that reduce operational costs, improve yields of crops for farmers and reduce the negative impact on the environment.
The 2020 Covid-19 pandemic exposed fundamental issues with the global supply chain and poor deals for farmers across the world. There is suddenly a greater awareness of how precarious our food systems really are. Knowledge sharing is a core principle of Liberty Produce; we share knowledge on the fragility of our food systems, the potential solutions and our expertise on growing and vertical farming. We believe a growing and food revolution will only be possible through a collective commitment to a sustainable and secure food future and that all starts with information sharing and engagement.
Our Team
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Dr. Dylan Banks
Co-Founder and Knowledge Director
Dylan is a physicist and bio-engineer; he has held positions in business and technology commercialisation environments at Cambridge and Imperial College London. He has worked closely with the NHS, MoD, Defra, DIT and AgriTech centres to develop novel technologies and systems. He is driven by a commitment to a sustainable human future and building the technological innovations that will deliver it.
Dr. Philippe Mozzanega
Co-Founder and Science Director
Philippe is an agronomist, with specialisation in plant and microbial biochemistry. After a career in biotech he returned to academia, researching the sustainability of fuel, food, and water, developing and running pilot plants. His research sparked an interest in CEA and the global future of agriculture, leading him to co-found Liberty Produce.
Alex Giles
Commercial Director
Formerly CEO of Shephard Media, an international media company, Alex brings a wealth of commercial expertise and experience to the Liberty Produce team. He has worked at a government to government and company to government level across the Middle East, South East Asia, Europe and North America.
Paul Downes
Operations Director
With over 20 years of operational and commercial transformation experience, focussing on effective operational governance and people development, Paul brings extensive operational knowledge and experience to his role as operational director at Liberty Produce.
Kaisa Kantola
Head of FFH
Kaisa manages research at the Future Farming Hub Research Centre based at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee. Kaisa leverages her extensive academic background delivering multidisciplinary practical research across a range of international research projects to lead Liberty Produce’s groundbreaking indoor farming research.
Joel Phillips
Head of Data & Control
As control engineer for Liberty Produce’s development of Advanced Control Systems, Joel leads on all things Systems and Machine Learning. He has significant experience across government, commercial and non-profit sectors delivering multi-million-pound government contracts.
Angel Adjei
Systems Officer
Angel has a passion for innovation with a BEng in Chemical Engineering. She has research projects on the use of nano materials in chemotherapy under her belt, Angel brings technical knowledge of Advanced Control Systems to the Liberty team. Having managed a learning centre for young children, Angel is passionate about inspiring more children into STEM.
Dr. Rory McLeod
Research & Data Officer
Rory has a background in developing and designing plant pathogen diagnostic tools using bioinformatics and molecular biology techniques to help boost food security in developing countries. A keen gardener with a range of crops in his own garden, Rory is acutely focused on both the macro and micro questions of how we increase food security and nutritional value for the many.
Siobhan Brady
Project Manager
A qualified Scrum Master with a natural talent for operational excellence, Siobhan brings agile principles to all aspects of Liberty Produce’s project management. Siobhan graduated from Central St Martin's with a degree in Weaving but was so concerned by the (un)sustainability of it all that she sought a move to a sector dedicated to building a sustainable future.
Anna Lambert
Growing Technician
Anna joined the team as intern as part of the 2021 Summer Programme. As a Biology graduate, Anna was inspired to work in food security and has always been excited by vertical farming because of potential to push the boundaries of crop growing & optimisation. She works on the growing trials in our London Lab, which feed into the product development & engineering. She also writes & shares great content on our platforms.
Dr. Aurélia Bézanger
Research Officer
Aurelia comes from an academic background in Agronomy specialising in plant and environment protection. She has been inspired to find new sustainable and environmentally-friendly solutions for the future of agriculture. Having previously worked with SASA and the James Hutton Institute, she brings specialist expertise to her role at Liberty Produce.
Hannah Rudolph
Operations Manager
As Business Systems Analyst, Hannah leverages her significant experience as an account & operations manager with extensive knowledge of policy, language & communication to deliver effective solutions for improving company procedures. She has an MA in Cultural Policy & Tourism and an MA in Applied Linguistics focusing on intercultural communication in business contexts.
Jack Nelson
Technical Assistant
Jack brings his background in the creative industry and experience in management to his role as technical assistant at Liberty Produce. He works on the product builds and developing manuals. He also assists on the growing trials in the London Lab.
Daniel Adjei
Engineering Technician
Daniel initially joined the team as an intern in the summer of 2021 and is now on his placement year with us for his mechanical engineering degree . He contributes to product development and specialises in CAD as part of the Product Engineering Team.