UAE’s Crysp Farms has announced a strategic partnership with agritech veteran Alesca Technologies to deploy 500 modular vertical farms across the Middle East over the next five years. The partnership will significantly improve vertical farming’s efficiency while providing more than 130 varieties of fresh produce year-round for Crysp’s corporate clients.
Crysp Farms currently grows fresh produce for some of the most prestigious hospitality groups, and this partnership will allow the company to significantly expand their unique ‘Farming-as-a-Service’ offering to more hotels and resorts.
The ‘Farming-as-a-Service’ model combines the on-site installation of a bespoke vertical farm with a multi-year operational agreement to grow a mix of fresh produce based on the customer’s daily F&B needs. Alesca will also install AI-powered monitoring and automation systems into Crysp’s existing and future vertical farms to continue improving the productivity and efficiency of the farms.
Maan Said, Founder and CEO of Crysp Farms said: “Our partnership with Alesca Technologies will provide us with access to best-in-class vertical farming technology. Combined with our own experience in managing farm operations across the Middle East for some of the world’s biggest hospitality brands, this partnership enables us to significantly accelerate our regional expansion.”
Stuart Oda, Founder and CEO of Alesca Technologies commented: “Working together with Crysp Farms will unlock enormous synergies. Alesca spent the past 10 years focused on improving the unit economics of vertical farming, and Crysp’s proven business model will allow us to seamlessly integrate our technology with more clients and communities across the Middle East region. We are also excited to continue improving our solutions by incorporating feedback from Crysp’s team and customer base.”
Typically, Crysp’s vertical farms use 90% less water and 99% less land than traditional agriculture. By building farms in-situ, hospitality customers can reduce their carbon footprint, with no logistics or distribution requirements, and no spoilage. Crysp guarantees that no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or genetically modified crops are ever used. Once harvested, produce can be served to customers in under an hour, providing exceptional quality, nutrition and flavour.
Alesca Technologies has developed one of the world’s most energy and labour efficient vertical farms by optimising all aspects of production from LED lighting and automation to remote monitoring and operations. Their current systems are capable of growing fresh produce at a lower cost than many greenhouses in developed countries.
Through the regional partnership with Alesca Technologies, Crysp Farms also plans to expand across other sectors in the coming years, with a vision to bring fresh, hyperlocal farming to every community.
To find out more about Crysp Farms, visit cryspfarms.com and to learn about Alesca Technologies visit alescalife.com.
