Leafy greens salads

A trip of Japanese companies have collaborated to take an artificially-lit vegetable factory business overseas.

Trade and investment firm Marubeni Corporation, chemical engineering company Showa Denko and engineering firm Chiyoda have signed an agreement with United Arab Emigrates conglomerate Al Ghurair Group to build a demonstrating vegetables factory in Dubai, to be completed by January 2017.

The demonstration plant in Dubai will be used as a showroom for potential customers, with Al Ghurair to undertake a one-year test of the factory as well as oversee its marketing in the Middle East.

In a joint press release, the three companies said the factory will run on LED lighting, with technology developed by Showa Denko to improve speeds of growth and yield. The companies said that the flavour of vegetables as well as the density can be manipulated through controlling the wavelength and intensity of the LED lighting.