Unique business potential

Dubai’s Food and Beverage Manufacturing Business Group (FBMG), a non-profit industry body for food and beverage manufacturers based in the Emirate, has praised the inaugural Gulfood Manufacturing – running 9-11 November at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) – for its ‘unique business potential’.

With more than 1,000 global food manufacturers, suppliers and service providers due to attend the trade show launch, the FBMG has revealed it is committed to championing home grown manufacturers’ credentials to positively impact the UAE’s food supply challenges at the dedicated food and beverage processing exhibition.

“The UAE currently imports 90 per cent of its total food requirements and opportunities are rife for the world’s biggest food manufacturers to make considerable, region-wide investment inroads at Gulfood Manufacturing,” says Saleh Abdullah Lootah, chairman of the FBMG and managing director of Al Islami Foods, one of Middle East’s biggest halal food producers, which has supply operations in Brazil and Australia, and exports its products throughout the Middle East, the CIS and Europe.

“Gulfood Manufacturing is also a watershed moment for the FBMG and our members. It is a unique platform for local food and beverage producers to source the latest ingredients, processing machinery, packaging equipment and logistics, warehousing and cold chain solutions to enable faster, cheaper and cost-effective production of safer and more reliable products. These are key enablers for domestic food and beverage producers to save costs and increase revenues in the increasingly competitive global food trade industry.

“Sourcing and assimilating these technologies will enable Dubai companies to produce an even higher standard of world-class food products which, if leveraged effectively and efficiently, could make the UAE and wider GCC region far less reliant on imports – an important asset in easing regional food security concerns. The business potential for local and regional companies is significant.”

Established under the auspices of Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the innovation-driven FBMG works to resolve industry-related challenges and spur domestic food and beverage production. As an all-encompassing food and beverage processing industry showcase. Mr Saleh Lootah believes Gulfood Manufacturing ticks both boxes for FBMG members including Al Ghurair Foods, Emirates Macaroni, United Foods, Nestle, Unilever, Mars and Dubai Refreshments Company (DRC) among others.

“International food and beverage producers will rightly view Gulfood Manufacturing as a strategic gateway to tailor their products to suit regional tastes and foster new, lucrative inroads into markets across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia,” says Mr Mohamed Al Owais, vice chairman and executive director, United Foods. “Furthermore, UAE and GCC-based food manufacturers will discover the latest in cutting-edge business improvement solutions to drive innovation, improve cost-efficient manufacturing and enhance operational quality.”

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