An event held at Norwich Research Park’s Centrum Atrium and organised by the Norfolk Business Board, showcased a number of Norfolk-based companies demonstrating the innovation and diversity that exists across the county.
’Extraordinary Norfolk’ brought together key members of the Norfolk business community, local and national politicians from across the party spectrum and representatives from county and local councils. Jointly hosted by Nick Steven-Jones, CEO of Jarrolds and Chair of the Norfolk Business Board and Cllr Fabian Eagle, Cabinet Member for Economic Growth, Norfolk County Council, the packed audience first heard from a number of companies and organisations that are fuelling Norfolk’s future economic success.
Dr Philip Zegerman, Associate Director of Technology Development and Research at Tropic, was one of 6 businesses asked to provide an overview presentation. Tropic has been based at Norwich Research Park since 2016, growing its workforce from just three to around 160, with most working at its headquarters on the Park campus.
Philip outlined how Tropic has been successful in raising more than $85m to fund the development of its precision-breeding technology which is being applied to safeguard the future of tropical crops such as bananas and rice. Last year, Tropic launched its first commercial product, a banana that doesn’t brown for up to 24 hours after being peeled and sliced, named by TIME magazine as being one of the best inventions of 2025.
He also shared with the audience news of their next product which will be an extended shelf-life banana that stays greener for longer, allowing for longer transportation and reduces wastage, by up to 50%, in the supply chain. Further developments include Tropic developing strains of banana that will be resistant to two diseases.
Philip said, “Norfolk is home to world leading innovation, science and research. Nowhere else in the UK has such an incredible community of businesses and institutes at the forefront of gene editing technology. The region is bursting with energy, ambition and potential so we’re proud to show how world-leading science can flourish here. With additional support, companies like Tropic can scale faster, deepen our global impact and ensure the UK remains at the forefront of scientific and technological excellence.
“Being able to share our story and plans for the future with such a distinguished audience will, I hope, add more value to the Norfolk business proposition and encourage more investors and business owners to look to Norfolk as a perfect place to develop new ideas.”
The event also provided a platform for some of the new companies established recently at Norwich Research Park. This included BeanTastic Hummus which offers clean label, tasty and nutritious hummus made in Norfolk and Boone which is developing an app designed to help individuals, families and sports organisations better understand the impact of the nutritional value of diet on their health.
Rudy Maor, CEO of BeanTastic Hummus – a Norfolk based company, which develops tasty hummus with science-backed health benefits, said, “It was a really great event to be able to attend and showcase our hummus. We were very excited offering tastings and talking to people about why we have set up this business. To have the opportunity to share our story with so many people who are representing Norfolk on a national and international stage will, I hope, prove to be a valuable one. We love being part of the Norfolk business community especially at our Norwich Research Park base, where so much innovation is in evidence. We hope that we can add BeanTastic Hummus to the long line of Norfolk food business successes.”
Murray Dare, CEO of Boone, which is developing an app designed to help individuals, families and sports organisations better understand the relationship between an individual’s nutrition, their genetics and health and sport performance improvements, said, “It was a really valuable opportunity to showcase our business proposition to such a distinguished group of Norfolk stakeholders. I had a number of really good conversations with people who were genuinely interested in how Boone could make a positive difference to so many people’s lives, both in Norfolk and beyond. Norfolk is the perfect place for our business to thrive with all of the talent and facilities on hand at Norwich Research Park and I am sure that the connections I made at the event will help accelerate the development of our business.”
The sheer diversity of successful businesses that were showcased at this event merely underlines the huge potential Norfolk offers as a hub of innovation, populated by many talented entrepreneurs with support networks in place that can help them reach their markets effectively. With Norwich Research Park being home to over 50 such companies and with plans to grow that number and expand the capacity on campus, it looks like there is a very bright future for Norfolk’s economy.
Photography credit: Lesley van Dijk
