In 2017, Dubai World Trade Centre’s Gulfood will undergo its most significant evolution in layout, format and visitor experience since its 1987 inception as a biennial event.
The show’s overhaul follows news of an alliance between Gulfood and The Hotel Show to create the the Middle East and Africa’s largest hospitality and food event, Dubai International Hospitality Week, set to launch in September 2017.
With the aim of increasing accessibility and trading potential, the 22nd edition of the Gulfood, the region’s largest food and hospitality show, will focus on finished food and beverages split into eight show components.
These will highlight the largest commodity trading sectors with dedicated halls organised by: Beverages; Dairy; Fats and Oils; Health, Wellness and Free-From; Pulses, Grains and Cereals; Meat and Poultry; Power Brands and World Food.
Trixie LohMirmand, senior vice president, exhibitions and events management, DWTC, commented: “Gulfood’s new sectored format will allow visitors to get straight to business by accessing the most relevant international and regional brands, companies and operators – the people they most want to meet from the sectors they primarily serve.”
The realignment will allow global buyers to discover more than 1,000 new-to-show food and beverage producers.
With space already completely sold out to exhibitors, February’s event will span more than one million square feet of indoor exhibition space and purpose-built temporary structures that welcome product innovations and services in line with consumer demand.
The new show will feature 120 national pavilions – including first-time participants Malta, Finland and Slovakia – and is set to host 5,000 companies showcasing hundreds of thousands of finished food and beverage products.
Hundreds of international heads of state, ministers, government officials and scores of national trade associations will attend with the objective of inking bi-lateral trade agreements among 95,000 anticipated visitors.
Single-entry chef competition, Salon Culinaire will return to raise the profiles of more than 1,000 of the regions’ top professional chefs, pastry chefs, cooks and bakers during a series of competitions evaluated by a panel of experts.
Meanwhile, the eighth edition of the Gulfood Awards will recognise best-in-class excellence and innovation across the region’s food and drink industry.
Divided into 20 categories, the event is judged by an international panel of independent industry experts, with winners to be announced during a gala ceremony hosted alongside the exhibition.
Gulfood 2017 is a trade event open strictly to business and trade visitors. The show is open 11am-7pm from 26 February – 1 March, 2017 and 11am-5pm on 2 March 2017.
