The UAE-based Emirates Flight Catering has fully acquired Emirates Bustanica, formerly called Emirates Crop One, and its consumer brand Bustanica, the world’s largest indoor vertical farm.
Located near Al Maktoum International airport at Dubai World Central, Bustanica’s 330,000 sq ft facility can grow more than 1 million kilogrammes of leafy greens a year, equivalent to 3 tonnes daily, while using 95 per cent less water compared to conventional agriculture.
Bustanica launched in July 2022 and its range of leafy greens, herbs and microgreens are made to be eaten straight out of the box – it says that even tap water can contaminate the produce. It grows a variety of lettuce, spinach, parsley, and kale, with all the produce at the facility grown without pesticides or herbicides.
The facility relies on the use of technology including machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other patented technologies. It has an in-house team of agronomy experts, engineers, horticulturists, and plant scientists.
Emirates flight catering opens world’s largest vertical farm
Operating under the brand name Bustanica, the produce is available across all major retailers in the UAE including Spinney’s, Waitrose, Carrefour, and Choithrams.
Also, customers on Emirates and other airlines too receive this farm-fresh produce in their salads and meals.
Emirates Flight Catering operates the world’s largest catering facility which is located at Dubai International airport.
Earlier this month, Emirates revealed some of the numbers involved in its catering operations. It said that it caters for 490 flights daily, with 149 meals served every minute – or 215,000 meals every day – served across the globe. It takes 1,400 dedicated chefs to make these meals at its catering facility in Dubai as well as in other parts of the world.
Over the course of a year, Emirates said that it served 6 million kilogrammes of fresh chicken, 350,000 kilogrammes of beef, 266,000 kilograms of Atlantic salmon fillets, 2.2 million kilogrammes of whole potatoes, 1.7 million kilogrammes of pasteurised eggs and 3.1 million kilogrammes of freshly baked breads and pastries, as well as thousands of vegan and vegetarian meals.
