Kate Hofman, founder of GrowUp Farms, has been recognised in The Grocer’s prestigious list of top 10 women shaping the future of grocery technology. This honour acknowledges her pioneering work in sustainable farming and technology, with GrowUp using cutting-edge methods like vertical farming to address food security and climate change.
Reflecting on her place in this top 10 list, Kate said: “I’m both honoured and excited to be included – and also a good shake-up of my imposter syndrome because I don’t think of myself as a woman in tech!”
Kate went on to discuss her evolving role as a business leader and the responsibility she feels to inspire others, especially young women. “I am really starting to take my position as a role-model in business seriously – again, not easy with that imposter syndrome whispering in my ear. There is always more we can do to improve representation so that any young person with brilliant potential can look at people in positions of authority and power and think ‘that could be me one day!’”
According to Kantar research commissioned by HelloFresh that The Grocer’s featured in their focus on this top 10, 49% of young women in the HelloFresh survey said that seeing more women in leadership roles would encourage them to enter the sector, and they are inspiring others to join them. This is an encouraging trend for women aspiring to leadership roles in technology and innovation across various industries.
Kate Hofman is now rubbing shoulders with some of the most influential women in the grocery tech industry, including: Hannah Gibson, CEO of Ocado Retail; Rachel Higham, chief digital and technology officer at M&S; Suzy McClintock, grocery and retail VP at Deliveroo; Claire Pointon, MD of Just Eat UK; Clodagh Moriarty, chief retail and technology officer at Sainsbury’s; and many other incredible tech leaders.