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Al Ain, UAE, Monday 24th February – Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest), the region's leading technology-enabled agribusiness, and PlanTFarm, one of Korea’s leading smart farming solutions providers, are proud to announce the official opening of the redeveloped Al Ain farm, which will serve as a pioneering, multi-use, and high-tech controlled environment agriculture (CEA) farming facility. The partnership and development, announced in December 2023, leverages cutting-edge AI-powered technology to bring consumers a new range of fresh, high-quality products that will be split between innovative branded consumer produce, and a pioneering resource-efficient animal fodder initiative.
Innovative Approach to Animal Fodder Production
One of the most significant advancements introduced by this collaboration is a commercial-scale pilot of resource-efficient animal fodder production. The Gulf region relies heavily on imported animal feed, but the new smart farm utilises PlanTFarm’s state-of-the-art technology to produce fresh, nutritious fodder using 95% less water per kilogram compared to traditional farming methods. This collaboration, which is co-located within a hotspot of livestock farms in the area, will not only reduce the UAE’s extreme dependency on imported feeds, but also provide a cost-effective and sustainable alternative for local farmers. If the agronomics prove to be sustainable, Pure Harvest plans to scale up the solution and to offer co-located, integrated fresh feed supply across the region.
Novel Branded Consumer Produce Offerings
The hybrid farming technology across this site is equally setup to enable the propagation, production and cultivation of an exciting new range of Pure Harvest premium Korean strawberries, renowned for their pure taste and natural sweetness. Traditionally grown in colder climates, these sought-after strawberries can now be produced in the UAE, forever “in season”, thanks to this innovative growing solution for strawberries. To maximise the full potential of this remarkable site, Pure Harvest is also introducing crispy, homegrown leafy greens, available all year round, ensuring a steady supply of fresh, locally grown produce.
At the opening ceremony, which took place onsite on Thursday, February 20th, CEO and Founder of Pure Harvest, Sky Kurtz said: “I’m delighted to see this ambitious, first-of-its-kind collaboration between Pure Harvest and PlanTFarm come to fruition. We pride ourselves on choosing the ‘right tool for the job’, and PlanTFarm’s innovative growing solution makes new and innovative Korean strawberries, water-efficient animal feed, and plant propagation R&D possible – all under one roof. We believe that embedding vertical farms within a high-tech greenhouse ‘campus’ enables us to capture the significant production advantages this solution provides, while mitigating its economic disadvantages – resulting in a compelling, economic, and sustainable integrated farming solution.”
“I want to thank our highly capable Korean partners in PlanTFarm for their collaboration and support to realise this innovative smart farming solution. From pioneering pilots to cultivating the most incredible strawberries you can eat – this farm represents another proud milestone in our journey towards delivering the highest-quality, most nutritious, and most resilient food production in impossible climates that need it most.”
(L-R) Sky Kurtz, CEO & Founder of Pure Harvest Smart Farms and JinHeum PAEK, Senior Managing Director of IMM Investment (credit: Pure Harvest Smart Farms)
Representatives and employees from across the venture (credit: Pure Harvest Smart Farms)
(L-R) Ryan Kim, Director of Growth Equity at IMM; Gareth Wilson, VP Engineering and Construction of Pure Harvest Smart Farms; Seung Won Noh, Strawberry Grower; Sky Kurtz, CEO & Founder of Pure Harvest Smart Farms; Olivier Taisne, VP Commercial of Pure Harvest Smart Farms; Anil Mehta, General Council of Pure Harvest Smart Farms; Omar Shaikhon, Project Manager Expansion of Pure Harvest Smart Farms; JinHeum PAEK, Senior Managing Director of IMM Investment; Mahmoud Adi, CEO of Al Shorooq. (credit: Pure Harvest Smart Farms)
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For more information, please visit www.pureharvestfarms.com.
About Pure Harvest Smart Farms
Pure Harvest Smart Farms is a mission-driven technology-enabled agribusiness headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, focused on year-round, sustainable production of premium-quality fresh fruits & vegetables. As innovators of the Middle East’s first commercial-scale, semi-automated high-tech hybrid growing system, Pure Harvest leverages innovative growing technologies & horticultural best practices to enable local-for-local production of affordable, sustainably grown, clean fresh produce anywhere. Pure Harvest is pioneering controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) in the MEASA region, harnessing technology to tackle some of the region’s biggest problems, including food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and sustainability needs.
About PlanTFarm
PlanTFarm is the leading indoor vertical farming solutions provider headquartered in Korea. PlanTFarm designs, builds, and operates proprietary indoor vertical smart farms and has developed more than 50 indoor vertical smart farms throughout Korea including the largest smart farm in Korea, the world first Metro Farms in five Seoul subway stations, and small & large-scale vertical farms in major hypermarkets and F&B restaurants. PlanTFarm has proven profitability in vertical farming solutions that can grow and harvest over 100 different crops with maximized productivity.
With its container farms in operation to provide fresh greens for Korean researchers in Antarctica and the first overseas vertical farm is under construction in Kuwait, PlanTFarm has been actively expanding into new geographies by partnering with local companies, investors, and governments.
