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- Vertical Farming Middle East Congress
Vertical Farming Middle East Congress
Building on the success of the Vertical Farming World Congress, this inaugural regional event will connect leading international and regional vertical farm operators and suppliers from the Middle East alongside Government authorities, advisers, customers and media. With the theme of ‘Strategy for Self-Sufficiency’, the three-day event will include multiple presentations and panels, two evening receptions, round tables for best practice development and vertical farm tours in Dubai as well as Abu Dhabi.
Sponsors
About
Building on the success of the Vertical Farming World Congress, Zenith Global is delighted to introduce its inaugural regional event, to connect leading international and regional vertical farm operators and suppliers alongside Government authorities, advisers, customers, and media.
With the theme of Strategy for Self-Sufficiency, the first Vertical Farming Middle East Congress will be held in association with the UAE Food & Beverage Business Group and in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
The 3-day event will include multiple presentations and panels, two evening receptions, round tables for best practice development and vertical farm tours in Dubai.
The programme aims to raise the profile and awareness of Vertical Farming as well as support the development and growth of individual businesses through best practice and networking.
Programme highlights include:
- Visits to vertical farms including Emirates Crop One and Uns Farms.
- Extensive high-level networking opportunities, including two evening receptions.
- Industry policy round tables to discuss and advance best practice development.
- The formation of a GCC Vertical Farming Group
- Insight-packed conference sessions with speakers from AeroFarms, Al Aliyo Hydrofarms, Badia Farms, Beirut Farm, Carrefour, Crysp Farms, Emirates Crop One, Infarm, N.Thing, Natufia, Signify, Uns Farms and YesHealth Group.
Speakers include
Monday 12 December
Registration opens
Informal social gathering around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Tuesday 13 December
Ahmed Bayoumi, Board Member of UAE Food & Beverage Manufacturers Group
HE Mohammed Mousa Alameeri, Assistant Undersecretary for the Food Diversity Sector in the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, UAE
Rami Baitiéh, Chief Executive Officer of Carrefour, France
Questions and discussion joined by Ahmed Al Shaibani, Project lead for Food Tech Valley, UAE
Refreshment and networking break around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Tom Könisser, Business Development Manager for Signify
Fadi Sbaiti, General Manager – UAE for AeroFarms, United States
Erez Galonska, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Infarm, Germany
Sudhanshu Sarronwala, Chief Impact Officer of Infarm, Germany
Kieran Dowd, General Manager of Emirates Crop One, UAE
Jesper Hansen, Chief Commercial Officer of YesHealth Agri-biotechnology, Taiwan
Questions and discussion
Buffet lunch and networking around sponsor and exhibitor stands
Bassam Hamade, Director of Strategy & Finance for Badia Farms, UAE
Mehlam Moiz, Executive Director of Uns Farms, UAE
Maan Said, Chief Executive Officer of Crysp Vertical Farms, UAE
Tarannum Malik, Chief Executive Officer of Al Aliyo Hydrofarms, UAE
Questions and discussion
Refreshments and networking around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Hyeyeon Leo Kim, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of N.THING, Korea
Gregory Lu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Natufia, Saudi Arabia
Sandro Allouche, Founder and Owner of Beirut Farm, Lebanon
Questions and discussion
Social gathering around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Close
Wednesday 14 December
Open meeting to discuss formation of industry group to represent vertical farming sector interests within UAE Food & Beverage Manufacturers Group
Refreshment and networking break around sponsor and exhibitor displays
Join round tables of 5-10 delegates to discuss and advance policy debate on key industry issues of choice, such as Industry communicationLabelling claimsKey performance indicators and benchmarkingRecruitment and trainingNutritionSustainability measurement, targets and reporting
Plenary reports back from round tables
Close
Depart from hotel for 45 minute visits to Emirates Crop One - including presentation, viewing gallery and product sampling - then Uns Farms – presentation, research facility, and farm visit. The coach will depart from Uns Farms in Dubai at 16.30, returning to the hotel between 18.30 – 19.00
Close
Speakers
Fadi Sbaiti
General Manager – UAE for AeroFarms, United States
Tarannum Malik
Managing Director of Al Aliyo Hydrofarms
Tarannum Malik is Chairperson and Managing Director of Al Aliyo Hydrofarms, a pioneer of hydroponic fodder farming on an industrial scale in the UAE.
“As a young college student in the UK, time was always short, and the chores were forever piling up. Taking the garbage out was one task I disliked to the core. Blame it on the nippy outdoors, but that pile of trash got me thinking there had to be a better way to reduce the global impact of waste generation.
I did not want to be a keyboard warrior. I wanted results at the grassroots. Hence, I crafted my waste management methodologies and systems after thorough research and extensive industry insights. Cut to five years as Founder and Managing Director of Ocean Recycling LLC, and I created gold out of garbage.
And then the Covid-19 Pandemic changed the world as we knew it.
A casual conversation with my mom during the 'restrained' grocery shopping made me aware that food security in harsh environments was the need of the hour. The idea of Al Aliyo Hydrofarms was conceived at that moment with a mission to relieve the dependency on imported animal feed by promoting sustainability and self-reliance.
When you impact the grassroots, the pyramid is more robust. Al Aliyo Hydrofarms is a step in that direction with innovation-driven food security, and I am proud to helm this sustainable farming methodology. Let me take you through my journey.”
Bassam Hamade
Director of Strategy & Finance for Badia Farms, UAE
Sandro Allouche
Founder and Owner of Beirut Farm, Lebanon
Born in Beirut in 1962 , Alexandre (Sandro) studied in Europe and the US and came back to Lebanon in 1996 after having acquired experience in various fields.
Sandro launched Beirut Farm in March 2020, a vertical hydroponic farming concept for urban areas which he believes will help address some of the challenges that Lebanon’s agriculture and agro-food sectors are facing, by replacing imported crops that have become too expensive, by locally grown, affordable, clean, and pesticide-free alternatives. Sandro's vision for Beirut Farm is ambitious, as he continues to watch out for new possibilities, niches to explore and expansion opportunities.
Today, Beirut Farm has indeed expanded its production infrastructure, reaching a nine-fold production to be marketed in Lebanon as well as in Europe.
Rami Baitiéh,
Chief Executive Officer of Carrefour, France
Rami Baitieh is a graduate of the Compiègne Ecole Supérieure de Commerce business school. He holds two MBAs, from the University of Québec and the Warsaw central business school.
Maan Said
Chief Executive Officer of Crysp Vertical Farms, UAE
Kieran Dowd
General Manager of Emirates Crop One, UAE
Ahmed Al Shaibani
Project lead for Food Tech Valley, UAE
Ahmed Al Shaibani is currently Head of Design Strategy & Innovation within wasl group and is the Project Lead for Food Tech Valley - a new project aimed at tripling UAE's food production and positioning it as a global destination for the industry.
Erez Galonska
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Infarm, Germany
Erez is co-founder and CEO of Infarm, the world’s largest cloud-connected farming network.
Today, the Infarm network produces millions of plants a month for 50% of the world’s largest retailers in Asia, Europe and North America. Infarm’s tech-driven, modular approach tailors production to customer demand, uses 95% less land and 95% less water, and travels 90% less than industrial farming.
Under Erez’s leadership, Infarm has recruited an industry-leading team and developed cutting-edge R&D to help cities become self-sufficient in their food production, while significantly improving the quality and environmental footprint of food.
Erez has been recognized by the European Commission as one of Europe’s top innovators in agriculture and technology.
Sudhanshu Sarronwala
Chief Impact Officer of Infarm, Germany
Gregory Lu
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Natufia, Saudi Arabia
Gregory Lu is the founder and the CEO of Natufia. He began his journey with a degree in Business & Law from ECCIP and University Paris V.
sector, from small to large scale residential and commercial development projects. After acquiring an olive plantation in Sicily he discovered a great passion for the food industry and decided to channel his efforts into a new outlet by challenging the food production, distribution and retail sector. This led to the creation of Natufia, an industry disruptor, by manufacturing the smart gardens, fully and semi-automated, for indoor growing in order to give back to the communities the accessibility and control of producing their own food.
Hyeyeon Leo Kim
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of N.THING, Korea
Leo Kim is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of N.Thing.
It developed the world’s first modular vertical farm ‘CUBE’ which is easy to expand. N.THING CUBE is a modularized farm with mass productivity where a dedicated OS provides the most optimized environment for each crop so as to create maximized efficiency.
N.THING is the world’s first smart farming company that won the iF Design Award, Architecture in 2020. Also, it is a winner of Best of Innovation at the CES 2020 for its excellence in technology, which is the first ever in the agricultural field. N.THING is planning to expand its business on a large scale this year after it successfully completes the PoC process in the U.A.E.
Prior to founding N.Thing, Leo Kim worked as an Associate Researcher at KETI (Korea Electronics Technology Institute) and was an International Business Development Manager at MSC, a Korean greenhouse manufacturer.
Tom Könisser
Business Development Manager for Signify
Tom Könisser is Business Development Manager at Signify (Philips), specializing in Indoor Farming (City Farming).
Tom is a guest lecturer at HAS University and WUR University, the Netherlands, on the topic of Indoor Farming.
Ahmed Bayoumi
Board Member of UAE Food & Beverage Manufacturers Group
HE Mohammed Mousa Alameeri
Assistant Undersecretary for the Food Diversity Sector in the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, UAE
His Excellency Eng. Mohammed Mousa Alameeri is the Assistant Undersecretary for the Food Diversity Sector at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment.
His Excellency started his career in 1998 Head of Plant Health Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water, where he also held the positions of Director of Plant Protection and Plant Quarantine Department, Director of Animal Wealth Department, Director of Central Region and Director of Agricultural Research Department.
His Excellency is also a member of several committees, including the UAE’s Equine Technical Committee, UAE Food Safety Committee, the National Committee to Combat Trade Cheat, the GCC Committee of Systems and Agricultural Policies, the GCC Committee of Animal Wealth and the International Committee on Phytosanitary Measures of the FAO - the United Nations (Rome).
H.E. Eng. Mohammed Mousa Alameeri holds a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Engineering from the UAE University.
Mehlam Moiz
Executive Director of Uns Farms, UAE
Mehlam Murtaza is the Executive Director of Uns Farms, one of the Middle East's largest commercial vertical farms. He is responsible for heading the operations and business development of the company.
Jesper Hansen
Chief Commercial Officer of YesHealth Agri-biotechnology, Taiwan
Jesper is Chief Commercial Officer of YesHealth Group, a Taiwan based vertical farming technology pioneer with a mission to transform agriculture and advance people’s health through the use of innovative vertical farming technology
Location
The capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi is the largest and most populated of the seven emirates with a population of approximately 3 million.
The Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers is a 5 star hotel located in Abu Dhabi’s premier location, the Corniche, offering spectacular views of the city and Gulf. The modern hotel is located within 10 minutes of the Presidential Palace and features a 74th floor observation deck, 12 award-winning restaurants and bars, three outdoor pools and a private beach, along with 382 rooms and 199 serviced apartments.
The hotel is 37 kilometres from Abu Dhabi International Airport, a journey which often takes around 30 minutes.
For delegates wishing to book accommodation, an allocation of rooms is available at a negotiated rate of AED 750 per night, on a strictly first come, first served basis. Please click here to reserve your accommodation.
Conrad Abu Dhabi Etihad Towers, Corniche Rd - Al Bateen - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates
Visas may be required from source countries. Zenith will be happy to help with visa support documentation where possible.
| Pay by 21 Oct Super saver rate | Pay by 11 Nov Early booking rate | Pay by 12 Dec Standard booking rate | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Congress | Each delegate | US$890.00 | US$990.00 | US$1,090.00 |
| Concession* | US$440.00 | US$490.00 | ||
| Separate elements | 12 Dec welcome reception | US$340.00 | US$390.00 | |
| 13 Dec conference sessions/reception | US$840.00 | US$890.00 | ||
| 14 Dec round tables/tours | US$300.00 | US$350.00 |
*A concession rate is offered to start-ups and early-stage entrepreneurs. To be eligible, you must have annual sales below $1 million. For more information and to book at this rate, please contact events@zenithglobal.com
Substitutions will be accepted at any time. Cancellations will be subject to $150 + VAT administration charge per delegate and cannot be made after 11 November. Bookings are subject to Zenith Global Event Terms and Conditions, available here. All prices are inclusive of VAT as applicable.
Visas may be required from some countries. Zenith Global will be happy to help with visa support and document where possible.
Sponsorship
Our event and awards sponsorship packages offer a unique and effective opportunity to showcase your brand and services to a highly relevant audience.
You can choose from our Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsorship packages, or we can create a custom sponsorship package to suit your specific needs and budgetary requirements.
Sponsorship opportunities include:
- Presentation within the main event programme
- Opportunity to host a workshop, roundtable or drinks reception
- Exhibit display in the networking area
- Distribution of marketing material / product samples
- Delegate passes
- Discounted delegate access for your clients
- Branding across event collateral, including stage backdrop, lectern and programme
- Logo on event webpage hyperlinked to your website
- Sponsored email communication to all attendees
- Sponsored social media posts
- Regular mentions in Zenith Global's event marketing and press releases
For information and pricing, please contact Francesca Hall, Associate Director - Events
e fhall@zenithglobal.com t +44 (0)1225 327900
Testimonials
Below are some testimonials from Zenith Global's industry leading Vertical Farming World Congress:
"Not just another 'conference' but a diverse curation of cutting edge thinking and hard hitting ideas. This is THE industry event." Jay Desan, BoomGrow
“A great event with an excellent organization team behind and a good choice of topics. Outstanding moderator in the Q+A sessions.” Christine Zimmermann-Loessl, Association for Vertical Farming
"Great conference for high levels of information, as well as, detailed information on CEA.” Melanie Corey-Ferrini, 3.14DC
“I found the conference very valuable and the level of speaker’s world class. Great work.” Fotis Fotiadis, Better Origin
“A truly excellent and well organised event, with a great line up of speakers and topics, not to be missed.” Harriet Duncalfe, Berrygardens Ltd
"A great incite to the vast differences between the world of vertical farming and how each company has a lot of differences and at the same time a lot of similarities. Good to network with other people. Can't wait for it to be in person." Linzi Naisbitt, Light Science Technologies
“I've attended the Congress as an external operator (not currently involved in VF) and found it extremely informative. Excellent platform to establish connections and networking too.” Martino Picotti, Proriented
"It was an amazing experience to meet the industry leaders and understand the current trends of the industry."
“The host from Zenith asked clear and concise questions and it was enlightening to see vertical farmers of all business sizes and technologies bring experience, expertise and skills to the screen.” Innovation Agri Tech.
"We got sound feedback from the speakers, fund managers as well as industry leaders and start ups of their challenges and the information guided by Richard Hall's unique way of brining the best out of everyone. It simply works." Leo Lobato Kelly, Karma Verde Fresh
"It was my first time at Vertical Farming World Congress and it was amazing. A well planned event and good panellists/presenters. Lots of great takeaways. Thank you very much!"
“The congress was well organized -everything went smoothly. Topics were diverse and engaging, and they managed to conduct virtual tours of the farms which I found fascinating." Semillar Translations
"Great line-up of speakers and topics"
"Richard is a great panel leader. He knows his subject, lets panellists talk without disruption and allows them to exchange opinions without overlapping the subject or allocated time. Very impressed.” Josephine Favre, The African Association for Vertical Farming (AAVF)
"An excellent platform to interface with the leading companies globally in this new industry." Porohita Projects Ltd