EDC aids Dubai’s Food Exporters Enter European Markets

Dubai’s success in exports last year were highlighted by three key sectors namely jewellery, food and plastics which grew by 38%, 17% and 23% respectively. Of particular note is the increase in food exports which represents a little over 6.6% of the emirate’s non-oil exports. This year the food exports surpassed all expectations and have done remarkably well.

Dubai has a long and deep history in the production and sale of food and beverage products into global markets. Dubai’s agricultural sector has been at the forefront of new techniques, such as hydroponics, that allows farmers to grow produce using very little water. As a result, Dubai’s producers grow a whole host of fruits and vegetables and have penetrated a number of foreign markets including Europe.

In addition to this the emirate has gained an international reputation for its processed and prepared foods which are exported to over 130 countries. This is an amazing achievement for the emirate as the bulk of the ingredients need to be imported before local producers add value and export them to foreign markets.

EDC took a delegation from the Foreign Investment Office (FIO), an agency of the Dubai Department of Economic Development. FIO’s participation in the exhibition was aimed at promoting sector-specific investment opportunities in Dubai. Representatives from FIO held successful meetings with interested investors looking to enter the market, and explained the support provided by FIO through the investment cycle. The high footfall at the exhibition allowed FIO to promote Dubai’s strategic location in accessing the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region.

EDC also took a number of UAE manufacturers to the international Sial Food exhibition in France to showcase their products. In doing so EDC was able to create a broader and global awareness of UAE’s ability to produce the best food products that meet international standards.

Moreover, the aim was to introduce buyers to the concept that Dubai and the UAE was a modern competitively priced sourcing hub for processed foods. At the same time, the event allowed EDC to introduce via B2B matchmaking events buyers.

The prominent position and design of EDC’s pavilion ensured a high level of visitors along with some prominent visitors such as the UAE Ambassador to France. Abdulla Saleh, Managing Director of Al Islami commented that “it was an extremely successful tour”.

The emirate has not only developed niche products such as chocolates which have been showcased in Sial and developed important export markets with EDC’s assistance. Generally, the chocolate based products represent almost 14% of the food sector exports. It is expected that in 2010 this segment will continue to make inroads in the European markets as producers look to capitalize on the continent’s demand for such products.

Assem Hamzeh, the managing Director of Chocoa and one of the exhibitors was very optimistic regarding the outcomes from exhibiting at the exhibited and continued to state, “We are positive that the outcome of our participation will be rewarding.”

Dubai’s food producers have realized that in order to become competitive in global markets they cannot simply rely on being the cheapest. Instead the producers need to ensure that they have products that meet the standards of the importing nation while offering the customer a value add in terms of making the purchase.

With such pro-active market innovations it is expected that 2010 will see another successful year of exports for the emirate’s food producers. Tareq Dajani the Export manager for Emirates Marconi who exhibited as part of the EDC Pavilion at Sial stated that, “It was a great experience and opportunity for us, we met businessmen from all around the world, sharing with them our & there experience in the field of sales & marketing.”