Emirates Flight Catering has fully acquired Emirates Bustanica, formerly Emirates Crop One, and its consumer brand, Bustanica, the world’s largest indoor vertical farm, making Emirates Bustanica a fully UAE-owned company.
Bustanica’s 330,000 sqft facility has the capacity to grow more than one million kilograms of leafy greens a year, equivalent to 3 tonnes daily, using 95 per cent less water than conventional agriculture.
It is located near Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central.
Operating under the brand name Bustanica, the produce is available across all major retailers in the UAE, such as Spinney’s, Waitrose, Carrefour, and Choithrams.
Produce is also incorporated into the salads and meals of air travel customers flying with Emirates and other airlines.
Bustanica, it was shared, is driven by machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other patented technologies, staffed with a specialised in-house team that includes agronomy experts, engineers, horticulturists, and plant scientists.
Its produce is grown without pesticides or herbicides, with offerings including a variety of lettuce, spinach, parsley, and kale.