Dubai plans world's largest vertical farm

Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC), one of the world’s largest airline catering operators, and Crop One Holdings, a San Francisco Bay Area food startup, are building a massive vertical farm to supply crops for in-flight meals.

Vertical farms grow crops indoors and year-round without natural sunlight or soil. The facility will be the largest of its kind, and will produce 2,700kg of crops daily.

Not only does vertical farming save huge amounts of land, but it reportedly uses just one percent of the water of traditional agriculture, and because of the tightly-controlled environment, no pesticides or herbicides are required. In this case, because the facility is opening up right next door to Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport, transport costs and emissions will also be reduced, and food will be served to customers just hours after harvest.

 

Located in a Dubai, the 12,000m² indoor farm will produce more than 2,700kg of greens and herbs every day. Unlike traditional outdoor farms, Crop One grows crops year-round under LEDs (which mimic natural sunlight) located inside climate-controlled rooms, which are each set to optimal temperature and oxygen levels depending on the crop.

When passengers board their flights at Dubai International Airport, most are served in-flight meals that include salads or greens atop sandwiches. These crops usually come from traditional, outdoor farms in the United Arab Emirates.

By 2020, flights taking off from the airport will serve greens and herbs grown from a more high-tech source. Construction on the Dubai facility is due to begin in November this year.

EKFC provides catering for Emirates Airlines and all other airlines at Dubai International Airport, which is the world’s largest airport by passenger traffic.

Instead of soil, greens sprout in nutrient-rich water beds on trays stacked from the floor to the ceiling. Sensors in the trays track how the plants are doing in real time.

The two companies will start construction in November 2018, and start delivering crops to Emirates Flight Catering’s customers, including 105 airlines and 25 airport lounges, in December 2019. Crop One currently operates a vertical farm in Millis, Massachusetts, and delivers to Boston metro area grocery stores under the Fresh Box Farms brand name.

The new farm in Dubai will surpass the size of the current world’s largest vertical farm, which is operated by AeroFarms. The facility grows greens inside a 6,400² warehouse in Newark, New Jersey. AeroFarms and other big indoor farming companies mostly sell their products to supermarkets, but Crop One believes greater opportunity may lie within airline partnerships.