Dubai – The interest in South American cuisine is on the rise in the Middle East, according to Mark Napier, the director of the Gulfood, a food sector fair to begin on Monday (25), in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. The number of countries from the region participating in the fair has also risen, with Brazil standing out.
"Distributors, five-star hotels, restaurants, chefs… they tell me that this is a tendency,” said the executive to ANBA, referring to expansion of the South American presence. According to him, even the local TV is broadcasting articles on the matter. “Industry is resulting in great return,” he said. Apart from Brazil, the fair will also have exhibitors from countries like Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Ecuador.
In this year’s edition, Brazil is the “country of honour at the event”, a fact shown in much of the fair’s promotional material. According to Napier, this grants companies in the country greater prominence. “All visitors see that and focus their attention on Brazilian products. It generates great visibility,” he pointed out.
Over 50 Brazilian companies are going to exhibit at the fair, which will count on the participation of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, the Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex) and sectorial organisations.
The country is renowned in the region as a great supplier of chicken and beef products, but there will be companies in several sectors, like biscuits, chocolates, juice, fruit, spices, condiments and coffee, among others. “It is good to have product variety,” said the director.
Part of the companies that are going to participate in the fair also participated in the trade delegation to Saudi Arabia and the Emirates last week, promoted by the Apex, with the support of the Arab Brazilian Chamber. Promotion of sideline events by companies and organisations is a tendency, according to the executive. “The greater the event, the greater the number of sideline events,” he said.
The number of Brazilian and South American companies has grown, but could have grown further if there had been space available, according to Napier. The area of the fair has grown 13% over last year’s edition and reached 114,000 square meters, although there are still 1,200 companies interested in exhibition; they could not as space was not available.
“Companies want to be in a market that has attractive conditions and in which they sell very well,” said the executive. The Middle East has a growing population, not just in number of births, but also in the great volume of expatriates who work in the region and the development projects that generate temporary jobs.
Napier pointed out that Dubai stands out due to the ease in business, safety and access to other markets in the Middle East and Africa. This year the fair should receive 4,200 exhibitors, 400 more than last year. Visitors from 160 countries are expected.
Application
One of the novelties of the fair this year is an application for the iPhone and Android with information about exhibitors, conferences, sites of interest, workshops and chefs and an interactive map that helps find companies and products. The programme is available on site www.gulfood.com. The information may also be viewed on the internet page, which also allows visitors to create a profile to help in the search for potential business partners.
“With a greater event, we had to improve services,” said the executive. “They are tools to make the visit more productive,” he added.
*Translated by Mark Ament
