Gulfood 2016, the latest edition of the world’s largest annual food and hospitality show, was formally opened by HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance and Industry, in Dubai, UAE.
The event, at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), will run till February 25.
Sheikh Hamdan was joined by Helal Saeed AlMarri, director general, Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and CEO of DWTC; 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.
Gulfood is expected to draw a record trade attendance of more than 85,000 visitors from over 170 countries, including international heads of state, ministers, government officials and national trade associations from five continents, said a statement from the organisers.
The show features over 5,000 companies from 120 countries, 117 trade and industry pavilions and spans in excess of 1.29 million sq ft of exhibition space including three new DWTC halls, it added.
Trixie LohMirmand, senior vice president, DWTC, organiser of Gulfood, said: “As a strategic investment platform, Gulfood connects the world’s leading food and hospitality industry companies and brands, national policy-makers and innovative thought-leaders.”
“The show facilitates multi-million dollar transactions as the global food industry meets, networks, sources new products and trades out of Dubai – now one of the world’s most prominent international trading hubs. The event is where the big deals are made, company to company and country to country,” she added.
With GCC food imports currently worth $53.1 billion according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Gulfood’s global trading status has attracted the show’s biggest tally of national and food export industry groups which, at 117, is five more than last year.
These pavilions include first-time representation from Russia, Costa Rica, Belarus, Mauritius and New Zealand returning after a six-year break, said the statement.
This year’s expanded exhibitor line-up, participating via national and trade association pavilions or on dedicated company stands, includes finished food producers, bulk commodity wholesalers, distributors and exporters, as well as the show’s largest-ever collection of hospitality equipment suppliers, it added.
Additionally, Gulfood 2016 also features the Halal World Food show-within-a-show and the globe’s biggest, annual halal food sourcing trade event. This year the event features over 800 halal food suppliers – 15 per cent up on last year – vying for trade in a sector predicted to be worth $2.537 trillion by 2019 according to the latest Global Islamic Economy Report.
Taking place over the first three days of the show, the show’s revamped conference programme opened with today’s F&B Business Forum at DWTC where experts discussed crucial issues shaping business performance within the region’s expanding F&B sector.
“For the retail, foodservice, catering and hospitality industries, the event presents an incredible opportunity to source thousands of new products, innovations in health and special diet, and an even wider range of ethnic and speciality foods – we anticipate tremendous interest in Halal food products this year as Dubai advances its status as an Islamic economy hub,” LohMirmand added.