Commercializing Saltwater-based

COMMERCIALIZING SALTWATER-BASED AGRICULTURAL SOLUTIONS

Red Sea Farms begins selling produce in supermarkets and comes third in the Entrepreneurship World Cup

RESEARCH PRODUCTS DEVELOPMENT COMPANY KSA

“The partnership between Research Products Development Company and Red Sea Farms is a great example of the transition of KAUST academic research to commercial application for the purpose of enabling local production of fresh fruits and vegetables in freshwater-constrained regions. We have a strong track record of bringing technology to market in Saudi Arabia and are proud to support Red Sea Farms as they scale.” Abdulmohsen Almajnouni, CEO of Research Products Development Company KSA

MARK TESTER Co-Founder of Red Sea Farms and Professor of Plant Sciences

GLOBALLY, OUR FOOD SYSTEMS ARE PROFOUNDLY UNSUSTAINABLE; WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR OVERDEPENDENCE ON WATER, AND ONE WAY TO ACHIEVE THIS IS TO SUBSTITUTE SOME OF THE FRESHWATER WE USE WITH SALTWATER.

KAUST spin-out Red Sea Farms, which developed saltwater greenhouse technology for growing food in the desert, has begun to sell its produce in the Kingdom’s Tamimi and Mother Nature supermarket chains. The company’s “Tamatimi tomatoes” can now be found in both Jeddah and KAUST Tamimi stores, marking a small but significant development for the company.

The technology developed by Red Sea Farms enables the growth of saltwater-tolerant crops, such as tomatoes, in greenhouses cooled by saltwater. The method allows for between 80% and 90% of freshwater to be substituted with saltwater, drastically reducing the water and carbon footprint of food production. The company’s technology is poised to revolutionize agriculture and is uniquely positioned to serve the growing food security needs of the Middle East.

In November 2019 Red Sea Farms came third in the Misk Global Forum’s Entrepreneurship World Cup, which featured over 100,000 start-up applications from 170 countries. In April 2020 Red Sea Farms announced a collaboration with merchant banking firm Kirchner Group, which is helping the company to develop growth channels and evaluate potential strategic partnerships to expand further.