Dubai Industrial City (DI), one of the region’s largest manufacturing and logistics hubs, has announced that WenChao Group is investing more than AED735 million ($200 million) to construct a world-class food manufacturing and distribution facility in the business district.

 The new agreement was signed last month at the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS).

 Founded in Dubai in 2006, WenChao Group has a diverse portfolio which also includes a retail group. 

The first phase of the WenChao Logistics Hub Dubai is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2022, comprising an integrated warehouse, distribution centre, food processing and manufacturing plant for semi-cooked and braised food. The more than 950,000-sq-ft factory will incorporate the latest technology to support a predicted food production turnover worth up to AED500 million annually. 

The company aims to venture into vertical farming in 2023 by taking advantage of cutting-edge agricultural technologies to overcome challenges posed by the natural desert environment. The second growth phase will see the construction of a 4 million sq ft vertical farm set for completion in 2025.