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HIGH traffic at the three-day event kept most participants enthusiastic and confident about doing business in the region. Many of them were not expecting visitor turnout to be as high. Gulfood 2013 welcomed tens of thousands of trade visitors from all around the world at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
The strictly trade-only event held from February 24 -28, 2013 featured a wide range of new products and technology solutions in the food processing and food hospitality sector. With the Zabeel Pavilion installed, the show floor expanded by 13% to reach a record exhibition space of 113, 398m2. Over 4,200 companies from 110 countries, including new participants Brunei, Lithuania and Ecuador, were represented at the event.
“Dubai now plays a pivotal role in the global food industry from a number of perspectives, not least because the city hosts what has become the most important annual food trade event in the world,” said Helal Saeed Almarri, director general of the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) and CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the fair organiser.
“Whilst Gulfood has attracted more and more exhibitors every year from a growing number of countries, this year’s exhibition welcomed more government ministers and country delegations than ever before. This is a clear indication of the stature and importance of Gulfood in elevating Dubai’s position as the region’s leading gateway for trade between East and West. Being the gateway between the East and West is a definite advantage that many seasoned and first-time exhibitors are banking on.”
Visitors from all over the world were plying the halls of DWTC to make as much of the visit as they could and networked within their business areas. Many were simply amazed at the size and variety of products available. Vikram Fotedar, Msc Engg (UK) of Fotedar Engineering Services was pleased with the outcome of his visit. “My objective was to meet my exhibiting clients. My clients are manufacturers of packaging materials which supply to food companies,” he said.
“Gulfood is very impressive, there is a very large Turkish contingency here and of course, the local manufacturers are also present, there were also companies from Saudi Arabia. And that is what I liked. The show keeps getting bigger and bigger. It’s a very good platform,” Mr Fotedar added.
Darko Glad, a visitor from Croatia, is general manager of Glazir, which is in the fruit filling business for the baking industry. He said, “I’ve attended Gulfood two times. I think it is growing fast. We intend to exhibit next year for the first time.”
Hussain Shehab, CEO of Twelfth Avenue Restaurant from Bahrain, concurred. “This one is more crowded, more contacts. I am establishing a packaging factory. Indeed, it met my objective, I found many options. It was informative and fruitful.”
Mohammed Abdullah Al-Habsi, business development manager of Al Reef Foods from the Sultanate of Oman, attended the show to network and to find new suppliers for their confectionery, soft drink and chip business. “We found new products and contacts. We spent two days here to meet exhibitors. It’s better, it’s bigger – it’s bigger than last year.”
