Emirates Flight Catering has fully acquired Emirates Bustanica, formerly called Emirates Crop One, and its consumer brand Bustanica, the world’s largest indoor vertical farm.
This strategic move establishes Emirates Bustanica as a fully UAE-owned company, helping sustain the country’s vision of enhancing food and water security and its agricultural capabilities.
The acquisition empowers Emirates Bustanica to leverage its local expertise and the latest tech know-how to meet the growing demands of the market, EconomyMiddleEast notes.
Located near Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, the 330,000 sqft facility has the capacity to grow more than 1 million kg of exceptional quality leafy greens a year,equivalent to 3 tonnes daily, while using 95 percent less water than conventional agriculture.
The process saves as many as 250 million litres of water every year compared to traditional outdoor farming, and in turn 1,000MW of energy is saved in the production of water.
Bustanica produce is available across all major retailers in the UAE such as Spinney’s, Waitrose, Carrefour, and Choithrams. Customers on Emirates and other airlines enjoy this farm-fresh produce in their salads and meals.
Bustanica’s produce is grown without pesticides or herbicides., and includes a variety of lettuce, spinach, parsley, and kale.
Bustanica is driven by powerful technology machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other patented technologies and a highly specialised in-house team that includes agronomy experts, engineers, horticulturists, and plant scientists.
More recently, Emirates Bustanica was a preferred produce supplier for COP28, a recognition of its commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Bustanica had opened the doors to the world’s largest hydroponic farm in July 2022, backed by an investment of $40 million.