São Paulo – Busy booths, exhibitors well-prepared to cater to the international market, and Brazil emerging as a supplier for new international clients. This was the landscape described by those who followed Brazil’s participation in the largest food and beverage trade fair in the Middle East, Gulfood, which concluded on Friday (21) at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Brazil had around 130 companies present, including members of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) exhibiting in two spaces organized by the institution. However, the country’s participation extended across multiple fronts, also coordinated by the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), chicken and pork lobby ABPA, and other organizations.
Dassoler Agronegócios was one of the companies that exhibited at Gulfood in a space organized by the ABCC. The company reported an extremely productive participation. “We had the opportunity to establish many strategic contacts and explore potential deals that could further strengthen our presence in the Arab market. The fair provided us with high-quality networking and opened doors to new business opportunities,” said director Rodrigo Espessoto.
Dassoler is one of the three largest exporters of pulses and seeds in Brazil, with a strong presence in the international market. “The Arab market has showed great interest in pulses and seeds, especially in Brazilian sweet sesame, highlighting the Vitória varietal. We are one of the few suppliers certified for this seed, which strengthens our competitive edge and opens significant business opportunities in the region,” Espessoto told ANBA after the fair.
Brazilian company Tangará Foods, also an exhibitor at the ABCC’s booth and operating in the dairy industry, secured deals at Gulfood, according to information sent to ANBA by the company’s Foreign Trade specialist Fabrício Quintanilla. “It was a spectacular trade fair,” he said, mentioning sales of 25-kilogram powdered dairy blends to Senegal and Chad. He also noted interest from Iran and Pakistan in Tangará’s products. “Brazil isn’t yet a strong exporter of these dairy products to these countries,” he explained.
After visiting Gulfood on Friday (21), the Secretary-General & Vice President of International Relations at the ABCC, Mohamad Mourad, said he received several expressions of satisfaction from exhibitors in the space organized by the institution. “They said it was better than last year,” he reported. Mourad observed a generally busy fair and highlighted the support that the ABCC team provided to the companies present at its stands.
The Ambassador of Brazil to the UAE, Sidney Leon Romeiro, read Brazil’s participation in this year’s edition as a very productive and robust union of the private and public sectors of the country. “When walking through the aisles of the fair, which is now one of the world’s largest, we come across a strong, motivated, and firm Brazilian presence, captivating and bringing expectations for our production in Brazil. This is a source of pride for us,” said the diplomat.
The ABCC participated in the exhibition with 12 of its member companies. “The Gulfood 2025 exhibition concluded and was a great success. A huge number of buyers visited our space at the ABCC and conducted business with our exhibitors. We had visits from companies from all over the world, looking for Brazilian products of great importance for the international market,” described the ABCC’s Events Coordinator, Verônica Sales, who accompanied the exhibitors.
New global landscape
The head of the ABCC’s office in Dubai, Rafael Solimeo, also described this year’s Gulfood as very positive for Brazil and believes the current global scenario, marked by a relative deglobalization, has brought new clients closer to Brazilian food companies. While he sees Gulf entrepreneurs increasingly valuing commercial partners like Brazil, he also notes that new importers have approached with the aim of securing more than just an alternative supply source.
Solimeo believes this somewhat uncertain global context has led the UAE to also boost its position as a hub due to its stability demonstrated over the years and its ease of infrastructure, access, and flights, as not all countries share the same reality. “There are now more nationalities coming to search for products here,” Solimeo explains.
Solimeo, who lives in the UAE, noticed an even more professional and mature Brazilian presence at Gulfood 2025. He attributes this to the fact that many companies had exhibited in previous editions, which provided them with greater market knowledge, and to the preparation they sought. According to him, the increased presence of halal-certified products is proof of this. Solimeo believes this is linked to Halal do Brasil, a project spearheaded by the ABCC and ApexBrasil that supports companies in obtaining this certification and promotes Brazilian halal food abroad.
Gulfood 2026
Gulfood will see some changes in its 2026 edition, according to announcements made at the launch event for the next fair, which was attended by Solimeo and Sales. According to Sales, the event will take place in January, from the 26th to the 30th, instead of February, to avoid overlapping with Ramadan, the sacred Islamic fasting period, which begins in February 2026. The fair will also feature greater sectorization, requiring companies to exhibit in designated areas for each product, and an expansion of exhibition locations. In addition to the Dubai World Trade Center, there will also be exhibitions at Dubai Expo City.
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Gulfood: Arab-Brazilian Chamber members make deals
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
