Pure Harvest enters strategic partnership with Saudi’s Nadec

UAE-based agritech firm Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest) has entered a strategic partnership with Saudi’s National Agricultural Development Company (Nadec) on a large-scale food project.

The national food security project aims to deliver over 27 hectares of production near-term – with prospects for future expansion on Nadec’s lands.

Pure Harvest will design, construct and operate climate-controlled hybrid food production systems that enable year-round production of sustainably-grown, pesticide-free fresh fruits and vegetables, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The parties completed their first project in December 2021, producing over 15 varieties of hydroponically-grown tomatoes in a climate-controlled growing system in Nadec City. The project produces over five million kilograms of locally grown tomatoes per annum, harvesting daily throughout the full year.

Pure Harvest aims to deploy substantial production capacity over the next five years in Saudi Arabia, farming a range of crops, while Nadec will market the products across its consumer base, hotels, restaurants, and catering partners.

The partners share a “vision to assist in the transition towards greater food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and sustainability in the kingdom, as well as the broader GCC region,” the statement added.

“We greatly benefit from Nadec’s strength, and together we are pioneering a new category of fresh produce for the Saudi people – premium local. High-quality, delicious, safe and affordable fresh produce that is always in season… offering new varieties, new products, and a fundamentally novel fresh produce experience,” said Sky Kurtz, founder and CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms.

As part of their partnership, Nadec and Pure Harvest will collaborate to support existing local farmers, by developing sustainable solutions that can be deployed to improve yields, reduce water consumption, and boost production quality.

“We are delighted to be partnering with Pure Harvest Smart Farms and to bring their distinctive controlled-environment agriculture solutions and expertise to the kingdom,” added Dr Solaiman A. AlTwaijri, CEO of Nadec.

“Nadec has a long tradition of supplying a broad range of staple food products to both the kingdom and the surrounding region. Moving into the supply of high-quality fresh fruits and vegetables is a natural extension of our legacy.”

Pure Harvest’s growing systems result in very low water consumption per kilogram of production, and is principally powered using Nadec’s renewable energy. Furthermore, it can harvest waste heat from existing fossil fuel power plants and nearby infrastructure and deploy this energy to offset power demands in its climate systems.

The agritech firm raised $180.5m in its biggest ever fundraising last year, from backers including the billionaire Olayan family, which runs one of Saudi Arabia’s largest conglomerates.

Read: Billionaire Olayans join funding for agritech firm Pure Harvest