• Dr Josef Schmidhuber, former Director in the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), joins as Chief Sustainability Officer
  • Andrew Bolter appointed as Chief Financial Officer brings a wealth of experience in taking companies to market
  • All three appointments represent a strong mark of confidence in Pure Harvest’s leading role in the MENA’s burgeoning AgriTech industry

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Pure Harvest Smart Farms (Pure Harvest), a world-leading, sustainable, technology-enabled agribusiness headquartered in the UAE, today announced three internationally-proven senior appointments as the company enters a new phase of strategic growth. 

Adrian Almeida has been appointed as the company’s first Chief Operating Officer, joining Pure Harvest from Sensei Ag, the US-based AgriTech Smart Farming company founded by Oracle Co-founder Larry Ellison and acclaimed physician and scientist Dr. David Agus. There he served as Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Innovation Officer during a  successful period of North America-market growth.

Dr Josef Schmidhuber joins as Chief Sustainability Officer, bringing a wealth of international experience at the OECD, FAO, IPCC, World Bank and European Investment Bank. Dr Schmidhuber’s work has been published in high-impact journals like Nature, PNAS, the Lancet and Science, as well as in hundreds of books and documents of international organizations. Josef holds an MSc in agricultural economics and a PhD in economics from the Technical University of Munich. 

In addition, Andrew Bolter joins Pure Harvest as Chief Financial Officer, having previously served as CFO and member of the board of directors at RA International Group plc, a global support services business with over 1,500 employees. Andrew led the process to successfully list the company on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in 2018.

Commenting on the landmark executive appointments, Sky Kurtz, CEO and founder of Pure Harvest, said: “I am so pleased to welcome Adrian, Josef and Andrew to our journey here at Pure Harvest. It is a fantastic vote of confidence in both the company we have built, and the wider AgriTech sector in the MENA region to attract talent of such caliber to one of the harshest environments on earth - in many ways, the ultimate proving ground and place of greatest need for our technology. All three have extensive senior management experience leading large, complex organizations, and bring a wealth of knowledge and insight to our businesses. Their experience in growing and scaling up businesses will be invaluable to Pure Harvest as we embark on the next phase of our growth journey - bringing our mission to provide year-round, safe and sustainable production of high quality fresh fruits and vegetables to even more markets and consumers around the world.”

Pure Harvest began production back in 2018 with tomatoes, but has since expanded their range of produce to include capsicums, melons, raspberries, blackberries, more than 26 varieties of tomatoes, over 14 kinds of greens, and nine varieties of strawberries; all in one of the harshest climates on earth.

Since Pure Harvest’s participation in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund, the company has become the most funded startup in the Middle East, according to Forbes Magazine. They have raised over USD 387 million in a combination of equity, debt, and other finance.

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About Adrian Almeida: 

Adrian Almeida is a seasoned senior executive with more than 20 years of international experience in the controlled-environment agriculture (CEA), AgriTech, Food, Consumer Packaged Goods, and Chemicals industries. He has held leadership roles in operations, sales, marketing, innovation, technology, strategy, M&A, human resources, sustainability, and engineering, contributing to the success of some of the world’s most renowned, successful, and largest CEA and AgriTech companies, including NatureSweet (USA), Larry Ellison’s Sensei Ag (USA), and Azura (France, Morocco), among others. Adrian holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and an MBA with an Organizational Development concentration, as well as several graduate studies at Harvard Business School and Schulich School of Business.

About Josef Schmidhuber:

Josef Schmidhuber began his professional career at the World Food Council, worked as a senior economist at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and eventually as a Director at Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). In parallel, he assumed numerous short-term assignments with other international institutions, including the IPCC, the World Bank and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Josef is a prolific writer and researcher, his work has been published in high-impact journals like Nature, PNAS, the Lancet and Science, as well as in hundreds of books and documents of international organizations.

His areas of interest include climate change and food security, trade and investment; agriculture 4.0 and related innovations and technologies; as well as global commodity markets and trade.

Josef holds an MSc in agricultural economics and a PhD in economics from the Technical University of Munich.

About Andrew Bolter: 

Andrew Bolter worked with Ernst & Young (EY) in Toronto, Canada, and in the UAE - where he specialized in assisting multinational corporations to establish or grow their operations in the Middle East and Africa, supporting their global management teams to implement organic and inorganic growth strategies. Andrew is a Canadian Chartered Accountant, Chartered Business Valuator, and a Chartered Director with the UK Institute of Directors. He completed his undergraduate studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, earning an Honours BBA.  

About Pure Harvest Smart Farms

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 and vegetables. As innovators of the Middle East’s first commercial-scale, semi-automated high-tech hybrid growing system, Pure Harvest leverages innovative growing technologies and 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 challenges, including food security, water conservation, economic diversification, and sustainability needs. 

For more information, please visit www.pureharvestfarms.com 

For press/interview queries:

Please contact pureharvest@cw8-communications.com