PRIME Cymru client, Stephan Parry, from Bridgend, is using his passion for his microgreens business to educate local children on the benefits of healthy eating.  

‘Happy Greens UK’ started out as a hobby for Stephan Parry. He was off work from work related stress, so with time on his hands he turned his mind to growing microgreens. This hobby then turned into a fascination with microgreens as he noticed their increased nutritional value and flavour in comparison to the salad his wife would buy from the supermarket. 

After fighting through Cancer and Coronavirus, and with the help and guidance of PRIME Cymru Development Officer, Debbie Price, Stephan was able to turn his hobby into his profession, launching ‘Happy Green’s UK’. The business has since grown, as Stephan was able to bring his son, Oliver, on board as partner. With the help of his son to do the heavy lifting, Stephan keeps himself busy with growing microgreens as he says it “does wonders for his mental wellbeing”. Stephan said he is “glad to have Oliver’s support, and to be able to provide a future for his son.”  

Debbie is increasingly proud of how Stephan is progressing the business. “When I first met with Stephan, the topic of his passion for Microgreens became something of a talking point throughout our many meetings and the idea to turn this into his business was born. I am so very proud to see how dedicated Stephan has been to cultivate his self-employment acumen and growing his ‘Happy Greens’ into a successful, healthy venture for the community and further afield to enjoy.”   

Stephan said: “I was lucky enough to be invited to a PRIME Cymru event where Prince Charles was in attendance, and I made sure to tell him that Debbie is brilliant, and that I can’t speak highly enough of her”.    

Stephan’s latest venture has been his mission to promote healthy eating to children in his local primary school. Stephan and Oliver have visited the school, giving the children an opportunity to grow their own microgreens. “We talked about microgreens, health, nutrition, and flavour. The kid’s loved it, and they got to take their own microgreens home to taste and to show their parents”.   

Since this visit, Stephan has built a relationship with the school. The school’s art teacher, along with local artist Rosie Mcdonald, organised with Stephan for the children to visit the Happy Greens farm, a converted shipping container. The children were able to paint the outside of the container, Stephan said “the kids did a great job, Rosie drew the outlines, and the children painted the rest, the container is looking fab.” 

You can learn more about ‘Happy Greens UK’, and order some microgreens for yourself at www.happygreensuk.co.uk.