GROME – Office Gardening for more community and health
One season, one field, one team
GROME is an office-gardening platform: companies offer their employees a continuous team‑building project in which the team cultivates a plot with their own hands. The offering is complemented by workshops on vegetable growing.
The fields are located at Urban‑Garden partners. From April to November, several GROME events with educational workshops take place there, promoting health and team culture. The program runs for six to eight months.
GROME follows the core principles of permaculture: Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share.
What GROME teams offer
A field for the team
From seed to harvest: The team collectively books a field right in the city.
Workshops
Educational workshops on health, resilience, and team culture accompany the season.
Harvest and eat together
Fresh from the field with no long transport routes: It tastes better and contains more healthy nutrients.
Why this matters for companies
Stressed and loosely connected teams cost companies performance. GROME focuses on community, health, and a connection to nature. The figures the startup relies on:
- 56 % Employees find their work environment too rigid and not varied enough (Gallup Engagement Index, 2019).
- 92 % People under 45 are stressed at work (pronova BKK, 2016; University of St. Gallen for Barmer, 2017).
- 14 % Employees in Germany have mentally checked out, costing roughly €100 billion (Gallup Engagement Index, 2019).
- 37 % Fewer stress‑related sick days are on average possible through a better work atmosphere and prevention (University of St. Gallen for Barmer, 2017).
- Time spent in green spaces demonstrably lowers stress markers such as cortisol and blood pressure (Soga et al., 2017).
Founders
Hanno Weimer
Master’s in Economics with a focus on innovation and strategy. Responsible for the business administration areas and strategic development.
Miloš Vereš
Trained chef with a master’s in Data Science. Responsible for culinary, data analysis, and technology.
Philip Riedel
Trained farmer with a master’s in Agricultural Sciences. Takes care of partner fields and planting plans.
More from GROME
Insights from the field and team news are available on Instagram.