Fifteen years ago, a serious case of food poisoning at a high-end restaurant pushed Roy Debbas to rethink food sourcing entirely. “Even luxury restaurants source from the same supply chains as average restaurants,” recalls Nicole, daughter of Roy. “That’s when my father realized, if we want truly clean, pesticide-free food, we’ll have to grow it ourselves.”
Back in 2011, vertical farming was virtually unheard of in the MENA region. Roy, along with a couple of friends who believed it was the future of urban agriculture, began experimenting with indoor production in a small lab in Lebanon. As the business grew, the team relocated to Dubai and founded EGF Shade of Greens, supplying high-quality produce to restaurants, hotels, and households.
© Shade of Greens
The challenges of being the first
The Dubai farm now reaches over four meters in vertical height, with up to twelve shelves and eleven rows of independently managed crops. Each row’s variables can be controlled individually, not only lighting, pH, and irrigation, but the entire microclimate. This level of precision wasn’t possible with off-the-shelf solutions at the time, which forced the team to look for technology partners that could deliver the level of control they needed.
“When we set up the vertical farm, there was no equipment specifically suitable for such a setup,” Roy explains. “For instance, we couldn’t find growing lights, so we had to ask Osram to make us a custom lighting system. But the real challenge was control. There was just no way to manage the entire farm from a single interface. That’s why we selected Agrowtek. Their solution allowed us to control everything going on at the farm from a single screen.”
© Shade of Greens
Agrowtek’s custom interface now monitors and regulates every parameter in the farm, from nutrient tank levels, lighting, and pH to EC, humidity, and temperature. Water is supplied via a reverse osmosis irrigation system that reuses water recovered from the A/C and humidity. We’re 100% monitored by Agrowtek equipment,” Nicole says. “At the start, it was challenging to come up with vertical farming specific solutions. We had to test materials, create wall separations, develop chassis and piping solutions. It took a lot of trial and research to reach a successful stage of vertical farming. But when it came to Agrowtek’s control and sensors, their help was instrumental in building our current success. “
“Agrowtek offers high quality solutions designed with end user flexibility in mind,” says Mike Sacomano, founder of Agrowtek. “Our clients are always pushing the boundaries of the space that they are in and helps us drive innovation for a variety of applications. We are grateful to be at the forefront of cultivation, next to many of our operators.”
Shade of Greens’ patented technologies allow it to grow different crops within the same room and even on the same racks, thanks to precise shelf-level climate control. Another patented system enables yields of 5,200 lettuce heads per square meter, on a 4 mt high ceiling, per year. “Product diversification was fundamental for us,” Roy points out. “You see other big companies fail because they go big with just one product. Thanks to our patented technologies, all we need is one agronomist who comes in and checks how things are going. All the rest is done automatically.”
Going strong with automation
Even with this level of automation, some processes remain manual for quality reasons, such as pollination and cutting. “We’re not 100% automated in Dubai yet, but we believe in staying hands-on,” says Nicole. “My father is at the farm every day. That consistency shows in the product. We combine the technology with human resources.”
The next step in Shade of Greens’ journey is Kuwait, where a larger, fully automated farm will be installed starting in October. The site will replicate the Dubai model but scale it up, with Agrowtek once again at the core of the system design. “The Kuwait farm will be the next version, completely controlled, tech-forward, and ready for scale,” Nicole says. “The system will handle everything, but we’ll still have the human touch for seeding, planting, and harvesting.”
© Shade of Greens
For now, EGF Shade of Greens remains focused on serving a discerning local market. Produce is delivered directly to homes and restaurants, and the company maintains stable year-round pricing for its pesticide-free products. Export isn’t on the agenda, high costs and the delicate nature of ultra-fresh produce make it impractical. “There are lots of big ideas in the vertical farming space, but not everyone follows through. We’re here every day, and that’s the difference,” Nicole says.
For the Shade of Greens team, the combination of in-house farming expertise and Agrowtek’s control technology has been key to building a resilient, high-performance vertical farm in one of the world’s most challenging climates. “There aren’t many teams that combine technical farming, engineering, and consumer product know-how under one roof,” Nicole says.
For more information:
Shade of Greens
+971585545561
shadeofgreens.uae
© Agrowtek
Agrowtek
3365 Gateway Rd, Brookfield, WI 53045
Phone: (847) 380-3009
Fax: (224) 538-2320
[email protected]
agrowtek.com
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