Plenty Unlimited Inc. and Mawarid Holding Investment say they have entered an exclusive, multiyear, regionwide partnership to bring locally grown fresh produce to countries across the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Mawarid Holding Investment is a subsidiary of Alpha Dhabi Holding, a major publicly listed company on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, according to a news release.
The joint venture Plenty and Mawarid have formed will invest more than $130 million into the partnership’s first project in the GCC — an indoor vertical farm in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, designed to grow more than 4.4 million pounds of strawberries annually, the release said. The joint venture plans to develop up to five farms in the next five years, which would require investing up to $680 million and bring thousands of direct and indirect employment opportunities to the region, according to the release.
The Abu Dhabi farm will develop a year-round supply of berries with peak-season flavor for both the local UAE market and export to other GCC countries, replacing air freight and reducing food miles compared to current imports, the release said. The farm’s complete production of strawberries is already pre-committed to Plenty partner and global premium berry leader Driscoll’s, which will also contribute its proprietary genetics, global brand and extensive market experience.
“As part of our strategy to delight berry consumers around the world, we are excited to partner with Plenty and Mawarid on this pioneering project,” Soren Bjorn, CEO of Driscoll’s, said in the release. “The Gulf region and the United Arab Emirates specifically have long been great markets for Driscoll’s, and this project will help ensure we can meet the demands of consumers in this market into the future.”
The new farm will be the world’s first commercial-scale vertical strawberry farm outside of North America, following the opening of Plenty’s first strawberry farm in Virginia later this year – also in partnership with Driscoll’s. Construction on the Abu Dhabi farm–which will be approximately 7,500 square meters (81,000 square feet)–is targeted to be completed in late 2026, the release said.
“Mawarid has increasingly focused on adopting cutting-edge technologies in support of the UAE mandate to build innovative food security capabilities,” Kashif Shamsi, group CEO of Mawarid, said in the release. “Our global search for a sustainable solution to the challenges we face in the Middle East led us to the incredible team at Plenty. This joint venture enables us to leverage the most advanced farming technology in the world to grow local food supply throughout the GCC, beginning with our home market in Abu Dhabi, while preserving our precious natural resources.”
“Plenty has built the most technologically advanced indoor farming platform aimed not only at meeting year-round consumer demand but making it possible to build a long-term food security infrastructure that can adapt to the needs of regions like the Middle East,” Arama Kukutai, CEO of Plenty, said in the release. “The Mawarid team’s extensive expertise with agriculture and land management in the Emirates makes them a great partner to meet these dual opportunities, in a region that has long been poised to benefit from the promise of indoor agriculture.”
In the UAE, 80% of the land is desert and only 0.7% of the land is arable, the release said. Developing local food production is essential to creating a more sustainable and secure food that gives communities access to fresher, more nutritious food. And in the GCC countries, which import more than 85% of their food, it is a key unlock to food security, according to the release.
