The UAE currently imports around 90 per cent of its food needs.
Despite this, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) categorised the country as ‘food secure’. As part of its ‘National Strategy for Food Security’, the UAE aims to improve its rankings in the Global Food Security Index by 2051. It also aims to develop a comprehensive national system based on enabling sustainable food production by using modern technologies and enhance local production.
Hence, increasingly public and private companies are turning to vertical farming and hydroponics to produce the food it needs and reduce its reliance on imports.
Emirates Flight Catering, recently acquired Emirates Bustanica, formerly called Emirates Crop One, and its consumer brand Bustanica as the UAE continues to bolster its food and water security.
The deal makes Emirates Bustanica a fully UAE-owned company as it looks to leverage its local expertise and tech know-how to meet the market’s growing demands.
Bustanica, the 330,000 square-foot hydroponic farm located near Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC), can grow more than one million kilograms of leafy greens a year, equivalent to three tonnes daily while using 95 per cent less water than conventional agriculture.
The world’s largest indoor vertical farm produces a variety of lettuce, spinach, parsley, and kale. The agritech startup said its products are grown without pesticides or herbicides.
Emirates and several other airlines source their produce from Bustanica for their meals and salads. The vertical farm’s produce is available across all major retailers in the UAE, such as Spinney’s, Waitrose, Carrefour, and Choithrams.
Meanwhile, the acquisition of Bustanica is expected to further consolidate the position of the catering division of the Dubai-based carrier in aviation hospitality.
The company operates the largest flight catering facility in the world and offers a range of services, including airline catering, airport dining, private dining and event catering, and food supplies to the HORECA and hospitality industries.
To put things into perspective, Emirates chefs use more than 938,000 kilograms of fresh cream in a year, 32,000 kilograms of Masala cashew nuts, 98,000 kilograms of fresh strawberries and 42,000 kilograms of salads from Bustanica.
The airline caters for 490 flights daily, with 149 meals served every minute – totalling an enormous 215,000 meals every day. It takes 1400 chefs to make these meals, at Emirates Flight Catering Facility in Dubai, and across partner caterers around the world.
