AD Ports Group has partnered with UAE-based conglomerate Ghassan Aboud Group to establish one of the region’s largest wholesale food trading and logistics hub in KIZAD.
The hub will bring together wholesale buyers, sellers, logistics players, consolidators and distributors from across the world, enhancing the diversity of all food categories available for consumers in the UAE and wider region, a statement said.
Covering a land area of 3.3 sq km in KIZAD, the Regional Food Hub – Abu Dhabi will be one of the largest of its kind in the region and will feature trading pavilions, logistics services, refrigerated and ambient warehouses, critical government services and waste recycling facilities.
The project is designed to accelerate the government’s National Food Security Strategy and enhance food trade flow through Abu Dhabi.
The KIZAD project will facilitate trade across proteins, seafood, pulses and rice, fruits, vegetables, dairy products, dry foods and fresh flowers.
Food companies from all countries can offer their products and buyers will have a selection of thousands of fresh items managed in a safe, clean environment, positioning the UAE as an important part of evolving global food supply chains, the statement added.
It has been launched in collaboration with Rungis International Market, the largest wholesale fresh food market in the world, which hosts 1,200 companies, serves 18 million consumers and has a turnover of EUR10 billion.
Rashed Abdulkarim Al Blooshi, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED), chairman of Logistics Sector Development Committee in Abu Dhabi said: “Food security and safety are among the top priorities of the UAE, and this major new trade hub will drive efficiencies in food supply chains and help improve safety, affordability and sustainable access for wholesalers in the UAE.
“At ADDED, we are keen to support the launch of the Regional Food Hub – Abu Dhabi which enhances public-private partnership, as part of our wider work to achieve a knowledge-based, diversified, and sustainable economy.”
Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, managing director and group CEO, AD Ports Group, added: “The development of new resources such as this, which will bring together leading local and global suppliers, supporting them with advanced innovation and world-class infrastructure, is testament to AD Ports Group’s commitment to facilitate food trade in line with the key objectives of the UAE’s National Food Security Strategy.”
Ghassan Aboud, founder and chairman of the Ghassan Aboud Group, said: “We are committed to investing in the food value chain in the UAE and we are confident that our partnership with the AD Ports Group will mark a pioneering step in the UAE’s food processing and distribution sector.
“The readily available infrastructure and value-added services will provide an integrated ecosystem for local and global food commodity providers and deploy cutting-edge digital technology to promote food-related innovation.”
Stéphane Layani, chairman and CEO, Rungis International Market, added: “We believe that the challenges seen during the Covid-19 crisis call for supply chain management in which wholesale markets play a strategic role.
“Our ambition, working with strong and recognised public and private partners in Abu Dhabi over the years, is to create a network of wholesale markets able to connect with each other in a very unique global network which will provide additional tremendous strength to food supply chains and ensure critical food security.
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