The 21st showing of Gulfood – the world’s largest annual food and hospitality trade show and a leading global food trading platform; fulfilled its promise of delivering more tastes, trends and trade during a five-day run from February 21-25 at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
With more than 5,000 international exhibitors from 120 countries and the show’s biggest ever industry and national group contingent numbering 117 pavilions – five more than its 2015 edition – a world of opportunities opened up for food industry professionals from all over the world.
The show, which spanned over 1,000,000 square feet of exhibition space including three new DWTC halls – Za’abeel 4, 5 and 6, was officially opened by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry. He toured the vast exhibition with His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri, Director General of the Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing and the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority, His Excellency Minister Alexander Tkachev of the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Agriculture and a host of ministers, ambassadors and dignitaries from the UAE, GCC and around the world.
With the GCC’s food import market currently worth US $53.1 billion according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Gulfood 2016 attracted finished food producers, bulk commodity wholesalers, distributors and exporters, as well as the show’s largest-ever collection of hospitality equipment suppliers. Others had their eyes firmly set on Dubai’s undisputed status as re-export hub particularly to the newly emerging markets of Africa and the Indian Sub-continent and the re-emerging giant of Iran.
Gulfood 2016 also featured the Halal World Food show-withina-show platform – now the globe’s largest annual Halal food sourcing trade event. Over 800 Halal food suppliers – 15% up on 2015; vied for trade in a sector predicted to be worth US $2.537 trillion by 2019 according to the latest Global Islamic Economy Report.
Meanwhile both exhibitors and visitors got extra value via a revamped conference programme which opened with the F&B Business Forum and ended with The Innovation Hub, sponsored by British Air ways and Avios, where selected entrepreneurs pitched game-changing business ideas to an expert judging panel in a bid to walk away with star t-up investment capital. The winning submission from five finalists – a food safety disinfectant by Singapore’s CleanLAB – was unveiled at the seventh Gulfood Awards, where 21 of the world’s best and brightest food, beverage and hospitality industry innovators from three continents claimed honours.
Meanwhile both exhibitors and visitors got extra value via a revamped conference programme which opened with the F&B Business Forum and ended with The Innovation Hub, sponsored by British Air ways and Avios, where selected entrepreneurs pitched game-changing business ideas to an expert judging panel in a bid to walk away with star t-up investment capital. The winning submission from five finalists – a food safety disinfectant by Singapore’s CleanLAB – was unveiled at the seventh Gulfood Awards, where 21 of the world’s best and brightest food, beverage and hospitality industry innovators from three continents claimed honours.
After the opening day, the conference programme moved to the five-star Conrad Dubai hotel for the Gulfood Halal Forum supported by the Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre and dedicated sessions devoted to food science and manufacturing, before ending with sessions on global food security and public health in the food industry on 23 February.
Gulfood business took off when Dubai Exports, the export promotion agency of the Department of Economic Development – Government of Dubai, signed a strategic MOU with Business France, the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, on the first day of the show.
Coffee was another huge focus at Gulfood this year and, of the 70 coffee producing countries worldwide, major exporters Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Columbia, Ethiopia, India and Mexico were all present. Buyer delegations from the world’s two largest traditional importers – the United States and Japan – used Gulfood to source new products from more than 200 specialist coffee manufacturing, trading, roasting and packaging companies from around the world.
Meanwhile, Greek barista Konstantinos Komninakis claimed top honours at the 9th World Cezve/Ibrik Championship at Gulfood – the first time the event has been staged in the Middle East. Komninakis beat 19 national winners from across Asia, the Middle East and Europe to win the judges’ vote with his blend of Geisha coffee beans from renowned Panamanian agronomist and producer, Graciano Cruz, as well as Kenyan SL28 beans grown in El Salvador.
In addition to coffee-making, Gulfood hosted hundreds of show-floor culinary demonstrations at the annual Emirates Culinary Guild International Salon Culinaire – a showcase of the region’s best culinary talent and expertise. One of Gulfood’s undisputed draws for the regions’ top professional chefs, pastry chefs, cooks and bakers, the 2016 Salon saw more than 1,300 professional chefs evaluated by a panel of 25 renowned experts, mandated by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS) to judge culinary events across the globe.
As part of the 2016 Salon Culinaire, three major USA trade bodies – the USA’s Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC), the Meat Export Federation and the Dairy Expor t Council – teamed up for a ‘Tastes of the USA’ culinary demonstration led by Louisiana-born Joe Truex, executive chef at Dubai Mall’s gourmet eatery Pi. Dubai. The demo was attended by Alexis Taylor, the Deputy Undersecretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
As the dates for Gulfood 2017 were unveiled, STR Global’s Middle East and Africa hotel pipeline report revealed there are 501 hotels totalling 144,321 rooms under contract in the Middle East and 285 hotels totalling 53,093 rooms under contract in Africa. Gulfood 2017 will run at DWTC from 26 February – 2 March, 2017.
www.gulfood.com
