Special Q&A: Daniel Keller, Bühler UAE, division manager discusses the region’s thriving market

Drawing an eclectic mix of visitors from around the World, Gulfood Manufacturing saw a host of machinery and solutions providers head to Dubai. Editor Neill Barston quizzes to Daniel Keller, divisional manager at Bühler, on recently taking on the task of heading up its UAE operations

Q: You’ve been with the company for 25 years now, what has it been like overall?
A: It’s been an absolutely great journey with Bühler, having started as an apprentice, going over to become a service technician and moving to back-office work for product development, then into sales. I spent a couple of years at head office in Switzerland and I went into the sales side of the business, and moved out of the country. I’ve been here for six months in Dubai, joining the region’s teams here, having spent the past five years in South Africa.

Q: What makes it a special company to work for in your view?
A: We feed the world’s population. We’ve such a diverse product portfolio, including everything from grain equipment, through to finished products we can produce. Who doesn’t want to have access to safe and healthy food? Q: How have you found the MENA region in the short period you’ve been here? A: I think that the real difference here is that there are a lot of imports here, and it’s quite rare that things are grown locally, though on the production side for manufacturing, they have higher capacity. I’m enjoying being here very much, I’m still learning, so coming to shows like Gulfood helps a lot, which enables us to interact with our client base.

Q: Digital transformation has been a key buzz phrase for the industry, how has the company’s own systems, including My Bühler helped shape the company?

A: Nowadays, on the e-commerce side, everyone wants to have an easy connection to place orders, which we have with our My Buhler system, which is accessible 24 hours a day, so it’s a very important tool.

Q: One of the key lines the business has produced for confectionery recently is the advanced ChocoX moulding line. Has that been launched for the region?
A: Yes, it has started now here, and we’re exhibiting it at Gulfood, and it’s clear there is customer demand for higher flexibility and complexity of machinery – and the ChocoX can be adjusted to the production needs that businesses have. The market is very fast, and volatile requiring fast turnover of products as manufacturers adapt quickly to market trends, which our equipment has been designed to respond to.

Q: What other areas of products or systems have proved particularly popular within the MENA countries?
A: Within this region, we have tended to focus on food security projects, with big silo complexes, but there is also interest in the consumer foods, biscuits or chocolate side. From consumers here, they are demanding healthier products, which also challenges us to develop collaborations for new products. So, our global application centres give us the opportunity to run trials for that purpose.”