Mushrooms usually sprout from dark, damp forest floors or bloom on fallen tree branches. Now, a startup in Abu Dhabi has found a way to grow them in the middle of the desert.
Below Farm is producing “specialty mushrooms” such as oyster, king oyster, shiitake, and lion’s mane.
Managing director Bronte Weir says the indoor farm, about a 45-minute drive from downtown Abu Dhabi, is the first in the region to grow and sell high-end mushrooms.
Below Farm’s offerings are better than imported mushrooms, she says, because “mushrooms damage very easily and lose their freshness quickly.”
Weir co-founded the company in 2021 in partnership with Polish couple Liliana Slowinska, a business development specialist, and Wojciech Slowinski, an electrical engineer.