Almost 5,000 firms gather to make Gulfood in Dubai an international feast of tastes

Food exports to the Middle East region jumped 250 per cent from 2013 to 2014 and participants to this year’s Gulfood would like to take advantage of the region’s huge appetite for food. Razan Alzayani / The NationalShow less

Gulfood, the world’s largest annual food and hospitality event, opens today in Dubai’s World Trade Centre. More than 4,800 companies from 120 countries are touting their wares with an eye on the burgeoning populations of the Middle East.

This year is the 20th incarnation of the international food festival, with its 120,000 square metres of space dwarfing Gulfood’s beginnings in 1987, when 65 companies from 13 countries had just a 2,000 square-metre space to exhibit products.

The UAE is a significant importer of food and relies heavily on exporting nations to deliver its foodstuffs. The biggest exporter of food to the country is China, closely followed by India. But for countries large and small – and whether they are new exhibitors or old – the Middle East is where the growth is.

Peru, for example, is making its fourth visit to the event after posting a massive 250 per cent increase in exports to the region from 2013 to the end of last year. Its exports to the Middle East are mostly fresh fruit and vegetables. However, it is trying to change the region’s seafood buying habits, which centre mainly on salmon and hammour, to include octopus, scallops and squid, each of which it has in abundance. But while the country’s exports to the region have nearly tripled, the total figure is still insignificant when compared with its global exports.

“Food exports to the Middle East region jumped 250 per cent from 2013 to 2014, but that still only accounted for US$5 million worth of produce,” said Alvaro Silva-Santisteban, the director of the trade, tourism and investment office of Peru in Dubai. “Peru exported $1.5 billion worth of food products last year, with 40 per cent going to North America and 45 per cent to Europe. The Middle East is important for us in terms of diversification of our markets. We can help with our superfoods, that are good for the diabetes problem here.”

France and Australia, two countries that have been present at the event since it began, will be exhibiting, with three new countries joining them this year – Estonia, Monaco and Uzbekistan.

The event has 700 companies on its waiting list to join the food bonanza, and the growth figures reported by previous exhibitors bear out the opportunity.

“France is very active on all GCC markets,” said Francois Sporrer, the French trade commissioner to the UAE.

“For instance, Saudi Arabia is considered the largest export market for French companies in food and beverage products, with $937m in 2013, showing an increase of more than 21 per cent compared to 2012. In 2013, France exported about €350m (Dh1.45bn) of agro-food products, a growth of 78 per cent compared to 2010.”

But the world’s two most populous countries still lead the way.

“The biggest exporter of food to the UAE is China, with more than $4.1bn worth of products in 2014,” said Rand El Samman, a communications officer with Euromonitor International. “Then comes India with about $3.5bn, then our Middle Eastern neighbours with $2.3bn, closely followed by the US with $2.2bn.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Aujan Coca Cola Beverages, which makes and distributes Rani and Barbican drinks in the Middle East, plans to invest US$500 million over the next three yeas in the regional beverage industry, the company said yesterday.

Aujan, which is participating in this week’s Gulfood show in Dubai, plans to invest in capacity expansion, a greater geographical coverage for its drinks and in brand development, the firm said yesterday.

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