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Relying on imported produce makes keeping up with demand for healthier menu options a challenge for the region's restaurants.

Fresh fruit and vegetable consumption has grown in recent years as customers are becoming more concerned with staying healthy and eating right, according to chefs around the Middle East.

The Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort & Towers, Grand Hyatt Dubai, Crowne Plaza Dubai, JW Marriott Dubai and the Fujairah Rotana Resort & Spa all report soaring demand for fresh fruit and vegetables across all their food and beverage operations, from breakfast buffets to banqueting and room service.

Federal Foods, meanwhile, which supplies frozen vegetables, whole fruits and fruit pulps to hotels, restaurants and catering companies, saw 40% growth in the volume of sales in 2007, according to product manager Sajid Abdullah.

"The figures are growing with the number of hotels and restaurants opening up in the region," he says.

"On average we sell around 200,000kg of fruit and vegetables a month and with the tremendous growth in the economy and the tourism industry in UAE, I believe that we will be able to double our volumes by 2009, with the majority of the business coming from the foodservice sector."

According to Abdullah, the quantities of fruit and vegetables being imported to the Middle East is increasing all the time, as the local supply is "too far below the demand of the market".

As a result of this over-dependence on imported items, availability of produce is a serious challenge facing the industry in the UAE and wider region, he says.

"We depend a lot on the weather and harvesting conditions in the growing countries.

"For example, a bad summer in Europe last year affected green pea cultivation there and resulted in a drop in volume. Ever since, the price for green peas has been on the rise and today it's almost double the price it was last year," he explains, adding that "the bad news is this trend will continue until the next harvest in June or July".

Another challenge that has evolved more recently is the frequent weakening of the US Dollar against the Euro, Abdullah adds.

"Since UAE Dirham is pegged to the US Dollar, we are actually forced to pay a higher price for products of European origin, which is where the majority of the five-star hotels and class-A restaurants in UAE prefer to source their vegetables from," he explains.

"Furthermore, the ever-rising crude oil prices have increased freight costs, resulting in higher cost of imports."

For chefs, there is little choice but to pass on these rising costs to the clientele, as Al Murooj Rotana Hotel & Suites Dubai's executive chef Joachim Textor points out.

"The customer has to understand that they have to pay a bit more sometimes in order to get fresh seasonal products that are flown into Dubai every other day from various corners of the world," he says.

The Al Murooj Rotana purchases 5000kg to 8500kg of fruit and vegetables each month, depending on business, and mainly sources its produce from Holland, Belgium, France, Lebanon, Greece and Australia, according to Textor, with some special products also coming from South East Asia.

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