Oswestry fertiliser firm set to create more jobs at second site after £1m investment
A Shropshire organic fertiliser producer is marking its four-year anniversary after a £1million investment - and says it already has plans for further expansion.
Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Carlos Kao and his wife Lian Lin launched Lohas Fertiliser at their site just outside of Oswestry in 2021 after investing £1 million in the technology and process.
The agri-bio tech business, based at West Farm, Crickheath, now produces two high-performance, carbon-negative organic fertilisers and boasts customers all over the UK, including professional growers, horticultural specialists and vineyards.
Now, the company is eyeing up plans for a second site in Shropshire after rapidly reaching capacity at their current premises, with new jobs in the pipeline. Lohas Fertiliser currently employs five people near Oswestry.
“We are extremely pleased with how the business has scaled since we secured this site but this is just the start - we already have our eyes on another site to cope with the demand we are facing and will continue to be at the forefront of transforming organic waste into valuable resources for the benefit of our environment," said Mr Kao.
“We are committed to environmental stewardship and are working extremely hard to address challenges such as nutrient runoff and river eutrophication.
“We will do this by reducing river pollution, reducing ammonia emissions, creating a circular economy, lowering the greenhouse gas emissions from the supply chain, and ultimately mitigate climate change by picking up the waste and giving it a second life.
“We currently have capacity to produce four tonnes of our fertiliser in one day with a maximum of 150 tonnes a month and our sales are already reaching those levels.”
The business said their plans would involve more investment in the Shropshire economy and create more jobs in the near future.
Lohas uses patented enzyme-based fermentation technology to convert organic waste - like poultry manure - into high-quality, pathogen-free organic fertiliser within just three hours and it is odourless.
The couple said they began promoting their revolutionary technology in 2019 in Telford to help farmers add value to their agricultural by-products.
Over time, they said they “came to realise our broader responsibility and mission insupporting sustainable food production”.
