Pure Harvest: farming the Gulf’s future in a time of war

• CEO Sky Kurtz: food security is ‘a calling’
• Dynamics shifting to local producers
• Government must scrutise pricing

Sky Kurtz, founder and CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, is equal parts entrepreneur and visionary, a fitting description for someone growing berries, leafy greens and tomatoes in the harsh environment of the Gulf desert.

The Iran war and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz have so far had only a limited impact on the technology-driven farming company, Kurtz says, while shifting market dynamics in favour of local producers as more traditional agricultural supply chains come under pressure.

If anything, widespread supply chain disruptions are serving as a catalyst for serious conversations about ways to bolster the resilience of local food systems, and Kurtz hopes regional authorities will harness this opportunity to take things to the next level.

The Arizona-born serial founder and investor describes boosting food security in the Gulf as “a calling”, comparing it to “building our version of the Great Wall of China”.

“I have been advocating for years, and now I insist, that we stop treating agriculture like hairdressing: it is not some consumption piece of the economy,” he says. “It is critical infrastructure, it should sit right next to desalination, energy, police, defence.

“Why is fuel for humans treated differently to fuel for cars?”

Kurtz believes what is needed is a national, or, even better, regional approach to sustaining homegrown, advanced agriculture by limiting cheap imports from Iran, Jordan and other peers during the winter months.

This should be accompanied by measures to mitigate somewhat higher prices, such as through subsidised long-term loans to producers.

He cites Saudi Arabia, where Pure Harvest also farms, as having already successfully trialled similar steps, thereby reducing imports of tomatoes from two-thirds of total consumption to one-third.

Abu Dhabi-based Pure Harvest has been operating in the UAE for under a decade and today grows 13 million kilograms of fruits and vegetables annually in a country of 11 million. Kurtz notes it is a “vertebrae” if not yet the “backbone” of Emirati crop cultivation.

It uses climate-controlled greenhouse technology to grow fruits and vegetables year-round in the Gulf desert as part of the UAE’s wider food security push.

The company exports to Kuwait, Oman and Qatar and employs systems that use a seventh of the water of a comparable low-tech farm and a 30th of the water of a field farm, according to Kurtz.

Pure Harvest

Since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, triggering Iranian retaliation across the region, Pure Harvest has seen a drop in demand from hotels, restaurants and flight catering due to tumbling visitor numbers.

Premium supermarket customers have also softened as some expatriates temporarily relocated overseas.

However, online orders boomed from residents eating out less during hostilities. Mass-market grocery chains, which can no longer import low-cost produce via sea, have also flocked to the company’s offering.

“We are seeing a surge in demand and the challenge is we don’t have enough supply to serve everybody, so we’re having to manage that,” Kurtz says. “Folks want to come to us first because they want to save money versus having to fly in foreign products at a great price.”

On the supply side, prices and availability of fertilisers have risen, but Pure Harvest is insulated from that thanks to months of inventory and needing smaller quantities in its efficient, hydroponic greenhouses.

However, Kurtz says the cost of packaging has skyrocketed, a surprise given the company relies on plastic-alternatives.

“There really isn’t a great reason why we’re experiencing such pressure, it’s more folks being opportunistic or they are resetting their pricing to what they believe their future cost structure will be,” he says.

“If I’m honest, there’s been a problem with some gouging behaviour there, which is painful,” Kurtz adds, urging more government scrutiny of wholesale prices.

Further reading:

• Food security on the front line of the Hormuz crisis
• Iran war fertiliser squeeze could spell trouble for harvests
• Top 10 agtech innovators shaping the Mena market

A prolonged conflict and Hormuz closure would further amplify the impacts of “warflation”, where the cost of living and doing business in the region stays elevated for the long haul just as energy sales and revenues remain constrained, he says.

Kurtz remains optimistic, however, that the UAE can emerge from this crisis with a much stronger agricultural base.

“Imagine a world where one of the things you come to the UAE for is because it has some of the best produce in the world in all categories,” he says.

He cites Iceland, which has harnessed its geothermal resources to power greenhouses that grow about half of all the vegetables it needs, as an inspiration.

“We have built and battle-tested climate-resilient farming in one of the harshest environments on the planet – and we’re doing beautiful berries at world-leading yields 365 days a year.”