Nongshim to Establish K-Smart Farm in Saudi Arabia

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Selected for 'Smart Farm Export Promotion Project'
Expanding Smart Farm Market in the Middle East Including Oman and Qatar
Growing Cherry Tomatoes, Paprika, Cucumbers, and More

Nongshim has been selected for the ‘Smart Farm Export Promotion Project (Pilot Greenhouse Construction and Operation in Saudi Arabia)’ hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and organized by the Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency.

The Smart Farm Export Promotion Project was established to activate the entry of the domestic smart farm industry into the Middle East by building and operating a Korean-style smart farm model locally in Saudi Arabia.

On the 22nd, a business agreement ceremony for the smart farm export promotion project was held at Nongshim headquarters in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, with four consortium member companies including Nongshim and the Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency. From the right: Seongmin Kang, CEO of Sfarm; Byunghak Lee, CEO of Nongshim; Hogun Ahn, Director of the Korea Agricultural Technology Promotion Agency; Jinhyung Jo, CEO of IO Crops; Kisoo Kang, CEO of ForMeet.

Since exporting a container-type smart farm to Oman in November 2022, Nongshim has steadily pursued entry into the Middle East smart farm market by signing MOUs with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. With this project selection, Nongshim will represent Korean smart farm companies and showcase the smart farm technology it has accumulated in the Middle East.

Nongshim is conducting this project in a consortium with three small and medium-sized enterprises. The consortium consists of Nongshim, which oversees facility construction and project operation, ‘Sfarm’, responsible for greenhouse operation and crop cultivation technology transfer, ‘IOCrops’, a smart farm management AI robot company, and ‘Formit’, a smart farm plant information technology company. Nongshim will build and operate smart farm facilities on approximately 4,000㎡ of land in the Riyadh area of Saudi Arabia by the end of 2025.

The smart farm will be composed of a hybrid model of ‘vertical farms’ and ‘glass greenhouses’, which have recently seen high demand for introduction in the Middle East region. Leafy vegetables such as frilled ice plant and kale will be grown in the vertical farm, while cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and paprika will be cultivated in the glass greenhouse. Production will focus on leafy vegetables with less bitterness and fruit vegetables with sweetness to suit the Middle Eastern preference for sweet flavors.

The crops produced by Nongshim will first be sold through the existing distribution network of local Saudi partners, and later will be introduced to local retail stores such as Carrefour and Lulu Hypermarket, as well as e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Noon.

Through this project, Nongshim plans to widely promote the excellence of ‘K-Smart Farm’ in the Middle East and expand related industries. By stably operating a locally customized smart farm package and securing competitiveness, Nongshim aims to build a cluster that gathers smart farm-related industries such as crop research, processing, and distribution sales, establishing a foothold for global expansion.

A Nongshim official said, “We plan to operate a Korean-style smart farm model locally in Saudi Arabia together with consortium companies,” adding, “With the responsibility of representing the Republic of Korea, we will promote the excellence of ‘K-Smart Farm’ and become a ‘global farmer’ Nongshim that enters the global smart farm market.”