Building a sustainable future for all
Here are some of the top companies making tangible contributions to food security in UAE
Arabian Farms Development Company
Located at Al Lahbab Village in Dubai, the farm is spread over a sprawling one-million-sq-ft area, nurturing a German breed of 600,000 healthy chickens.
Types of eggs
SAHA Premium brown and white omega-3 eggs; premium brown and white SAHA lutein eggs; SAHA premium white eco eggs; SAHA white organic eggs; SAHA pasteurized shell eggs; and high-quality SAHA white and brown eggs.
Total farm output
Arabian Farms produces 120 million SAHA table eggs per year; 20,000 tonnes of chicken feed per year; and around 12,000 tonnes of chicken manure for the agriculture sector. Plans are underway way to produce 6,000 tonnes of local chicken.
Key strengths
With more than 200 years of cumulative management experience, Arabian Farms nurtures a German breed of chickens — known for their resilience and good quality — in environmentally-controlled poultry houses. It uses technologically-advanced automatic weighing, grading, packing and printing machine imported from the Netherlands. It has a unique shell egg pasteurization machine from Korea, while its feed manufacturing and water treatment technology are sourced from Germany. Arabian Farms looks at producing chicken in a state-of-the-art facility using machinery imported from the top suppliers in Europe.
Al Rawabi Dairy
Al Rawabi Dairy Company is a leading dairy and juice manufacturer in the UAE, with a wide range of products. Currently, Al Rawabi operates in the UAE and Oman, serving more than 15,000 stores across the region with its fresh line of products.
Key products
Milk, yoghurt, laban, cheese, juice and a range of functional food. Now Al Rawabi has extended its product range to bakery products, selling under the brand name BAKERZ.
Armela Farms
Based in Dubai, Armela is a farm-to-table supplier that produces, packs and distributes fresh, local, 100 per cent pesticide-free leafy greens, 365 days a year.
Key produce
Armela Farms produces a wide variety of lettuce, kale and baby spinach. It is the first and only producer of the salanova range of lettuce in the UAE. What makes the salanova range special is that with one cut at the root, salanova separates into lots of lettuce leaves. Armela’s new simple salad range is produced from the farms’ premium handpicked lettuce, harvested, cut and packed to reach the shelves the same day.
Availability
Armela Farms’ premium produce is available at Carrefour, Kibsons, Choithrams, Delmonte, NRTC, Fresh on table, Allday supermarkets, Vegberry and Freshleaf.
Greenoponics
Based in Dubai, Greenoponics is a leading manufacturer and supplier of hydroponic systems for balconies and gardens at homes and villas, schools and nurseries, and offices and restaurants.
Key strength
The company actively promotes sustainability through high-tech urban farming.
Key products and services
Greenoponics has mini-hydroponics systems and products, greenhouse, net house and other controlled environment solutions, and accessories for urban farming. It also offers training, consultancy and support services.
Projects
Greenoponics has installed greenhouses and net houses with Dronii-DBS and Eva-NFT systems at Mohammad Bin Rashid School; Al Ghurair Farm; Horizon school; schools in GEMS Education and Dubai Sustainability City.
Top farming techniques
Nutrient Film Technique (NFT); Dronii Bucket System (DBS); drip system; flood and drain system; deep water culture (DWC); aquaponics and aeroponics.
Aranya Farms
Located in Abu Dhabi, this is a family-run organic and hydroponic farm, providing farm-to-table locally grown leafy greens, vegetables, herbs and microgreens.
Key produce
Aranya grows organic produce and experiment seasonally on half the farm. These include everyday veggies to heirloom lettuces and unique items such as fennel, San Marzano tomatoes and herbs like lemon balm. On the other half, Aranya has built hydroponic greenhouses, primarily growing leafy greens, microgreens and fruiting plants such as cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and strawberries. In season, Aranya farms expects to harvest more than 1,700kg of produce a day.
Availability
Aranya Farms is currently in discussion with retailers to carry its products. However, for delivery and updates, send a WhatsApp message on 055 425 9588
VeggiTech
This is the world’s only complete in-house system technology currently available in the hydroponics and grow light-assisted hydroponics market.
Key services
The company focuses on transforming traditional farms into protected hydroponics farms and creating indoor vertical farms with grow light-assisted hydroponics. Its build-and-operate model provides complete peace of mind to investors.
Projects
Some of its recent successes were the conversion of a 640,000-sq-ft traditional farm into a modern protected hydroponic farm and the commissioning of the indoor vertical farm of 25,000-sq-ft grow area.
Key strengths
Nurtured out of South Korea and servicing global markets, the team has spent 20 years in core technology and food processing industry. VeggiTech’s system has been completely designed and manufactured in-house.
QualityFood delivers fresh, high-quality food at your doorstep
QualityFood started its operations in 2016 with a vision to rethink grocery shopping and make it easier and more accessible for all.
Products available
Its range includes vegan, organic, gluten-free, superfoods, meat, poultry and seafood, fresh produce — fruit and vegetables, including pre-cut for those who hate chopping, fresh juice, bakery and much more.
Key strength
QualityFood offers next-day delivery across all seven emirates.
Shop for your favourite groceries online at Qualityfood.ae or through the qualityfood app available for download on iOS and Android.