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UAE: Pure Harvest moves from agriculture to agribusiness

04/12/2024

François-Xavier Branthôme
United Arab Emirates,
Middle East
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Pure Harvest enters the sauce market with recently unveiled 100% natural sauces prepared with its award-winning, locally grown tomatoes. First available at Spinneys and Waitrose, the new product line of delicious, all-natural sauces includes four vegan-friendly varieties with no added sugar or preservatives. 
 
According to the information released by the company on 1st November, 2024, Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest), the region’s leading sustainable technology-enabled agribusiness farming high quality, safe, sustainably grown fresh produce, today announces the launch of its own brand of 100% natural tomato sauces. The range will be exclusively available at Spinneys and Waitrose outlets across the UAE for two months, before expanding to other retailers. Pure Harvest’s sauces are crafted with the company’s award-winning, sustainably farmed tomatoes and contain no added sugar or artificial ingredients. 
 
 At the heart of Pure Harvest’s new product line are the brand’s renowned tomatoes, locally grown in the UAE. The company will utilize visually imperfect and/or seasonal excess in production to supply this new sauce line, which mitigates food waste risks in the company’s value chain. 
 
With culinary expertise shining through in each product, the brand has launched a diverse range of sauces, each with a unique flavor experience. This includes: 
  Cherry Tomato Passata: Embodying the essence of simplicity, this velvety passata captures the pure, natural flavours of Pure Harvest’s vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, slow-roasted to perfection. 
  Shakshuka: This vibrant base encompasses the spirit of Middle Eastern cuisine, balancing the rich flavours of vine ripened tomatoes, sweet bell peppers and aromatic spices to deliver an authentic taste. 
  Marinara: A celebration of tradition that captures the art of simple home cooking with a classic flavor achieved by simmering the tomatoes to perfection with hints of fragrant basil and oregano. 
  Chili Cherry Tomato: This delightful fusion of freshness and spice, with the subtle heat of chili and cayenne, adds a touch of elegance to every dish, making every meal a masterpiece. 
 
The new range of tomato sauces was expected to be available in Spinneys’ stores from October 31st, 2024, at prices ranging from AED 14.90 – and AED 27.50 (from USD 4.1 and USD 7.5). In addition to being a sustainable option, the new sauces are priced competitively in the sauce category, offering a delicious and affordable choice for consumers. 
From left:  Tom Harvey and Sky Kurtz
 
Speaking about the new range, Sky Kurtz, Founder and CEO of Pure Harvest Smart Farms, said, "We take great pride in the trust and support afforded to us by our customers over the last many years. By crafting value-added products fashioned from our extraordinary, award-winning fresh produce that people know and love, we seek to further delight our customers, offering innovative, distinctive, and convenient consumer products for everyday enjoyment. 
“Our sauces recipes were co-created with expert culinary partners, crafted with Pure Harvest’s vine-ripened tomatoes as the base. At the core of this new product line is our belief in making the most out of our delicious and nutritious fresh produce – even if they’re not the prettiest tomatoes on the vine! By using what the industry calls “ugly produce” – which simply means the farmed product may have visual imperfections but retains the same exceptional quality – we are able to further reduce food waste while providing consumers with a high-quality, natural, and delicious product in a range of extraordinary flavours and cuisines. Thanks to the expertise of our culinary partners coupled with our matchless high-quality base ingredients, these new sauces are divine and uphold our mission to feed people in a more sustainable way." 
 
Tom Harvey, General Manager – Commercial at Spinneys added: 
“Pure Harvest’s premium fresh produce has been a popular choice amongst our shoppers since the locally produced fruits and vegetables were introduced to stores in 2018. Spinneys maintains a longstanding tradition of supporting both local farmers and local entrepreneurs, and we are very pleased to be working with Sky and his team on this exciting new product line. We look forward to introducing our shoppers to this innovative, all-natural sauces product line that is sustainable, healthy, and delicious.” 
 
Some complementary data
 Pure Harvest Smart Farms is a mission-driven technology-enabled agribusiness headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, focused on year-round, sustainable production of premium-quality fresh fruits & vegetables. As innovators of the Middle East’s first commercial-scale, semi-automated high-tech hybrid growing system, Pure Harvest leverages innovative growing technologies & horticultural best practices to enable local-for-local production of affordable, sustainably grown, clean fresh produce anywhere. Pure Harvest is pioneering controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) in the MEASA region, harnessing technology to tackle some of the region’s biggest problems, including food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and sustainability needs.
 
Sources: pureharvestfarms.com, freshplaza.com