Feeding frenzy

Gulfood 2008 will be the lucky thirteenth time the event has been held, cementing its position as an industry stalwart and must-see event.

Gulfood is returning to Dubai bigger and better in 2008, with a larger exhibition, more exhibitors, new products and an expected increase in visitors.

Last year more than 37,000 people from the hospitality and food manufacturing industry visited the show, with buying delegations from more than 30 different countries.

Although 80% of the visitors were from the GCC and wider Middle East region, a large number of visitors travelled from Asia, Africa and Europe to attend - hotel and resort management employees made up 9.9% of the total visitor numbers, and a further 7.1% managed restaurants, bars, clubs and cafes.

Highlights of this year's show include the popular Salon Culinaire, which pits chefs from across the region against each other in a competition of skills, and the food safety conference, which runs concurrently with the exhibition.

The show will also feature a restaurant and café show with products for setting up new outlets, according to Gulfood project manager Elly Habt.

"[The restaurant and café show] is designed to meet the needs of all the restaurants and cafes setting up in the region whether it's flooring, seating, lighting, cutlery, chinaware, tableware, or whatever they may need," she said.

"We have an impressive growth of 20% in 2008 compared with last year, which now means we occupy the entire venue at Dubai International Exhibition Centre, and which also means that this will be the biggest ever Gulfood.

"With this continuous growth we have reorganised the layout of Gulfood into different sectors, so we have processing, packaging and labelling equipment together in hall two, as well as beverage and beverage equipment which will be in hall three.

In beverages we also have a beverage opportunity workshops running alongside Gulfood - it's about marketing and branding and how to best operate working in the region, so that complements the new beverage hall well.

Described by Nestle Waters Department general manager UAE Ahmed Elleissy as "the leading food and beverage exhibition in the region", Gulfood is set to be a hotbed of big deals, new products and exciting ideas.

Hotelier Middle East takes a look at what is in store.

Fresh meet

Several companies are exhibiting at Gulfood for the first time, including Yung-An Tea Co Ltd, Bartech, and Zarrin Ghazal.

Zarrin Ghazal chief executive AM Ebrahimi said his company would be exhibiting ice-cream producers Daity.

"Daity is one of the biggest producers of ice cream in the Middle East, and even in the world, so in order to find its right place in the international market we decided to exhibit at Gulfood," Ebrah-imi said.

The company will be showcasing three flavours at the show, including Amiral (vanilla ice cream with chocolate coating and minis) and Rushin (vanilla-cocoa ice cream caramel with choco-late coating).

Other companies which are new to Gulfood in 2008 include International Dairy Ingredients, Ambrosia Oils, Fruitfina, Erie Europe and Baarssen Retail Vers BV.

Fresh ingredients

Visitors to Gulfood 2008 can expect to see plenty of new products available from exhibitors.

Bio Extracts will be seeking to increase trade awareness of virgin coconut oil products this year, Beer Mania has plans to launch a new alcohol-free cherry beer, while Original Candy Company will be launching its new 20-25g Foodservice pack for Chocca Mocca Chocolates - pitched as "perfect for the hotel industry".

Friesland Foods sales exports Alex Hoogers said the company would be launching several products in its food service and industrial packaging collection, including 25kg butter - salted and unsalted - 15kg butter oil and 20kg butter ghee.

According to HD Sheldon and Co vice president Douglas Dunn, the company will showcase new products from Hatco, Cecilware, Wolf, Vulcan, Dormont and Kold Draft on its stand.

"We are returning [to Gulfood] because it is a great gateway to the gulf markets," he added.

ADF Foods Middle East and Asia Pacific country manager Deepankar Gautam agreed.

"We are entering new segments, and Gulfood gives us the biggest platform to showcase our products to the region," Gautam said.

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