Gulfood 2019 ended its 24th run at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) with major alliance breakthroughs and multibillion-dollar export deals reinforcing the emirate’s reputation for specialist industry events that serve as strategic gateways to hugely-lucrative and transformational global markets.
The 2019 edition of the show was the largest to date, attracting more than 100,000 visitors from 200-plus countries seeking business opportunities and exploring the latest F&B products and innovation. In line with its constant evolution to deliver an unparalleled experience for exhibitors and visitors, this year’s show incorporated a range of new features under the theme ‘The World of Good. The World of Food’, includingTastes of the World, which hosted 50 world renowned chefs displaying their skills in 59 cooking demonstrations.
With mega F&B trade deals sealed at Gulfood 2019 stretching the length and breadth of the globe, show stalwarts and industry heavyweights emphasised the importance of the Dubai event to their annual F&B plans.
Business France, the French government agency that promotes the European country’s exports, hosted a diverse range of French F&B producers across a number of the show’s sectors during its five-day run and hailed the success of the 2019 event.
“French companies deem Gulfood as an essential part of their regional and global F&B plans. The show is the perfect opportunity for French decision makers to meet local partners, confirm deals and further expand on the growth of business between France and the various countries of region,” said Marc Cagnard, managing director, Business France.
Fellow European F&B behemoth Italy also enjoyed a successful outing and identified Gulfood as taking on greater significance for Italian companies annually.
Gianpoalo Bruno, Italian Trade Commissioner to the UAE, Oman and Pakistan said, “Gulfood is the world’s largest annual food and beverage trade show and it is an important exhibition for the Italian Trade Agency to promote ‘Made in Italy’ products and ingredients to the Middle East region. This year, we showcased the very best of the Italian agri-food sector and our culinary heritage at The Italian Food Lab. We organised cooking masterclasses with renowned Italian chefs based in Dubai and focused on the health benefits of the Mediterranean Diet and spreading knowledge to a wide audience.
“Italy has many talented producers that now offer iconic Italian ingredients such as pasta, pizza, sweets, and snacks that meet the requirements of the contemporary culinary trends of gluten free and veganism, and Gulfood was the ideal platform to showcase them. The country exports more than 320 million euros of food and beverage items annually to the UAE, one of Italy’s most important international markets. ITA’s participation in Gulfood has helped strengthen Italian presence in the UAE and across the wider GCC countries and Middle East.”
Across the five days, Gulfood also facilitated an additional 6,700 individual trade meetings with an average of $1 million in deals per participating company. The ringing endorsement of the 2019 edition underlines the show’s position as a driver of a booming global F&B industry and key contributor to Dubai’s economic success.
“Gulfood has been a resounding success this year, with deals totaling more than $21 million signed at the Chilean pavilion. This eclipsed the business done at the event last year by over one million dollars. Forecast for business related to the show will reach $50 million this year,” said Carlos Salas, trade commissioner of Chile in Dubai.
“Our pavilion partners witnessed unprecedented demand this year. We saw a huge amount of traffic and interest from buyers from around the world enquiring about our fantastic produce, many of whom have signed deals, which will see Chilean produce exported around the globe. We have a long-term strategy to broaden our F&B exports further. We are already in discussion with several exporters from Chile who are keen to join our pavilion at Gulfood 2020, which will allow us to showcase an even greater number of products and ultimately increase the strength of our export business. Some of our exhibitors of dried fruit have said that Gulfood is already the most important trade show of the world.”
