Greenman expands operations, geographically and vertically

Greenman Group has been plowing ahead with a number of innovative moves over the past few months, particularly in its drive to be the at the forefront of sustainable investing in the grocery-anchored retail sector.

As part of the European fund group's expansion plans, Greenman has expanded into Poland by buying asset manager and developer Newbridge Poland. The new Greenman Poland will start with €150m of assets under management, made up of 87,000 sqm of retail parks and shopping centres.

Greenman said that Greenman Poland will be appointed as asset manager for Greenman European Supermarkets (GES), an investment fund that has already acquired three retail parks located in Namysłów, Grodzisk Mazowiecki and Włocławek. GES, an open-ended fund, was launched last year to own €500m of European supermarket assets through sale-and-leaseback transaction. The fund can also buy logistics and omni-channel grocery distribution assets throughout the EU.

Greenman has always been a very forward-looking group, given that its essential business is owning and renting food-anchored retail assets, until recently mostly in Germany. It now owns companies focused on technology, marketing communication, hydroponics, renewable energies, fund management, investment services, asset management, and development, with activities in six countries - Ireland (where it is headquartered), Germany, France, Poland, Luxembourg and India.

It recently spun out its own property management company Gform to manage its grocery assets, headed by Greenman veteran James McEvoy. Further newly set-up divisions include White Bird for building technology and Greenman Energy for photovoltaic and electro-mobility applications.

REFIRE has followed Greenman closely for many years, and we've learned not to be surprised at the company's ever-present willingness to adapt and innovate. At the heart of the company's philosophy is an almost fanatical zeal in being a leader in climate-friendly development of its more than €1bn of grocery-anchored assets. Greenman's founder and CEO, Johnnie Wilkinson, commented: "Our ESG plan is to make the Greenman Open fund portfolio carbon neutral by 2050. We want to achieve this through highly specialised subsidiaries or joint ventures that are part of a goal-oriented overall strategy of the Greenman Group and build up the necessary know-how. We are convinced that the issue of local, sustainable food production without pesticide use is an essential one for the food industry and food retailing,"

Late last year Greenman launched its Net Zero plan for its €1bn Greenman OPEN fund, basically a pledge for all properties in its fund that they will remain viable for existing tenants, regardless of changes to store concepts and operational strategies even beyond the existing lease terms. A far-sighted pledge, particularly for Greenman's most important supermarket occupiers like Edeka, Kaufland and Rewe, who would normally be signing 20-year lease and who are themselves visibly committed to very ambitious sustainability goals within Germany.

The Net Zero plan is a commitment to reduce the portfolio's net carbon emissions to zero by 2050, which will require an effective average reduction of 3,500 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.

Wilkinson added: 'We’re committed to ensuring that OPEN’s portfolio becomes fully aligned with the Paris Agreement. A core principle of the European Green deal is the "decoupling of economic growth from resource use" and we believe that the net zero pathway will not only achieve this, but will also provide a route map for other owners and occupiers invested in our asset type.'

'We’re aware that we’ve set ourselves an ambitious target but we firmly believe our plan has the potential to make a lasting and positive impact upon the communities in which OPEN’s properties are located and to the approximately 280,000 people who visit these stores daily.'

In practical terms, this means that Greenman will focus heavily on its building and systems improvements, aiming to reduce energy consumption to below 161KWh / sqm let area for all existing grocer occupied properties.

"We operate a buy and hold strategy for the properties in our fund and intend to keep them for their whole life, well beyond 2050. Where properties don’t consistently meet our performance expectations, we’ll look to recycle and re-purpose them, rather than demolish them," said Wilkinson.

We've reported in the past about Greenman's commitment to vertical farming and the launch of Potager Farm at the end of 2021. The business has now secured €3m in funding (from Greenman and Greenman OPEN) and is building its first farm in eastern Berlin, in a converted car repair workshop close to the Biesdorf Center retail park, a Greenman property.

Vertical farming is a fast-growing innovation, which enables growing herbs, leafy greens and micro veg indoors in a tower structure, usually in urban areas. It uses advanced farming techniques, growing crops without soil whilst maximising growth in a confined space. The vertical farm technology helps to dramatically reduce the number of food miles required to feed growing urban populations.

For parent company Greenman, Potager Farm is handling the concept design, planning and operation of the installation which should be completed in the third quarter of 2023, growing fresh produce to supply retail centres, supermarkets, retailers, restaurants, and hotels.

The farm’s irrigation tanks will use water caught by its rainwater catchment system and Greenman Energy, a sister company of the Greenman Group, will install photovoltaic panels on the roof of the building to supply the farm with renewably generated solar power.