Gulfood in February supports UAE’s efforts to address food challenges
The Dubai World Trade Center has announced the launch of the 28th session of Gulfood, the world’s largest food and beverage sourcing event, from February 20-24, 2023, which brings together the most prominent food players and beverage industry from around the world at an event in Dubai to shape the future characteristics of the rapidly developing industry.
This edition is the largest of its kind, with an increase in the exhibition area of no less than 30% of the total area compared to previous years, since more than 5,000 exhibitors have been confirmed, including 1,500 participating for the first time at the event. . Part of the record expansion in expo size in 2023 is due to the launch of the “Gulfood Plus” platform, the new hall purpose-built for the event, which for the first time allows expo attendees to exhibit their innovative products on an additional area of 10 thousand square meters.
Today, the world is witnessing many events represented by rising inflation and rising costs of consumer goods, food, services and fuel. The food sector can mainly contribute to reversing these negative trends and to move towards securing healthier and more resilient food systems. .
The Gulfood Expo is being held alongside the UAE’s preparations to host the “Cop 28” conference this year, making it an ideal platform for parties involved in the food and beverage industry to come together. early in the year, to promote efforts to move towards more sustainable food production and consumption systems.
- 30% growth of the 28 course spaces and sustainability, a top priority
Trixie LohMirmand, Executive Vice President of Events Management at Dubai World Trade Center, said: “We are witnessing the ongoing food crisis, climate issues and rising food prices, so we look forward to 2023 as a critical step to find solutions and come back. on track. In addition to developing healthy, diverse and sustainable diets for all people on the planet. The United Arab Emirates and the Gulfood Expo will be at the heart of many of these dialogues, as a unique starting point to point the way forward.
global change
The UAE is the hub of all these changes, which gives the Gulfood show a fundamental position at the heart of the activities of the business community as the main driver of discussions aimed at achieving the objectives of the sector on the ground, because it brings together most of the leading relevant players in the premier event witnessed by the food and beverage industry in the current year. . The expo also reveals a variety of new products and innovations, and provides a unique global platform to leverage business opportunities by hosting 125 national pavilions, many of which are attending the event for the first time, such as the Armenia, Cambodia and Iraq, while hosting many previous pavilions such as South Africa and Australia.
- Warning
Gulfood 2023 marks the launch of Gulfood Green, the new global sustainability initiative designed to stimulate dialogues across the food and beverage sector with the aim of leapfrogging towards more resilient and sustainable systems for food production and consumption. The initiative aims to improve transparency and motivate the most important players in the food sector to achieve the main strategy, ensuring the transition to sustainable food systems in view of hosting the COP 28 conference and setting unprecedented standards. for similar efforts in the future.
As part of this initiative, the Gulfood show also launched the “Gulfood Global Forest” event, which is in line with global reforestation campaigns, and the natural solutions highlighted by the events as part of its commitments to sustainable development, as it aims to protect, rehabilitate and plant trees all over the world to help tackle climate change. As the food and beverage industry has one of the highest carbon emission rates, the Gulfood Global Forest campaign aims to empower expo stakeholders, including exhibitors, visitors, speakers, chefs and the public, to participate in the initiative and plant trees to support the revitalization of forests around the world. The initiative has already started planting trees in four countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Uganda, Ecuador and Indonesia, to plant fruit trees in specific locations to provide an opportunity for self-sufficiency to families and local communities, as the trees planted so far can support two thousand families, and get rid of About one million kilograms of carbon dioxide is lost during the life cycle of these trees. In turn, the Gulfood Green initiative has pledged to double the number of trees and quadruple the land area of beneficiary countries by the start of the COP28 conference. For the first time in its history, the Gulfood exhibition highlights the most eminent international chefs who focus on biodiversity in the restaurant sector, and during the exhibition they present a series of training courses and d workshops that aim to bring about effective change through sustainability initiatives and stop food waste.
This year’s session marks the launch of the Gulfood Green Awards, which receive nominations in five categories, including the Green Food Services Sector Award, the Waste Management Award, the Green Food Innovation Award, the Best Sustainability Expert of the Year Award and the Best Sustainable Business of the Year Award. The Gulfood Green Awards celebrate excellence in sustainability and encourage the adoption of best environmental practices across the food and beverage industry.
- Catalyze change
The Gulfood Inspire conference will address a number of key topics focusing on sustainability, quality and affordability, and will see the broad participation of ministers and food and drink sector stakeholders from around the world, as well as of business people, civil society figures and industry experts, who will deliver a number of speeches and sessions.Dialogues and presentations on a range of pressing topics, including sustainable food production, security food, food sovereignty and investment, food technology, opportunities for innovation, third generation internet (Web 3), food education and how to achieve it, and waste reduction, securing global supply chains, as well as the latest foodservice trends, challenges and innovations associated with them.
- The global food movement
This year, the ‘Gulfood Plus’ platform is hosting the ‘Top Table’ event, which sees the presentation of distinctive dishes to the best curators of award-winning dining experiences around the world. Gulf Host is also preparing to launch the Dubai International Food Movement, which provides a unique platform for local chefs to work together to shape Dubai’s cultural identity and strengthen its position on the global culinary scene.
- Foodverse Event
The Food Metaverse event, based on blockchain technology, is held within the Gulfood Plus space, and allows visitors to explore the incredible opportunities offered by the world of food based on third-generation Internet technologies ( Web 3), and learn about the latest trends in modern technology that pave the way for future innovations in the food and beverage industry. .
- Gulfood Innovation Award
The Gulfood Innovation Awards are presented to innovation leaders in the food and beverage industry, recognizing excellence in new product development and highlighting the latest pioneering products launched over the past year. The exhibition received hundreds of nominations for awards in 10 different categories, including Best Beverage Product, Best Organic Product, Best Frozen Product, Best Package Design and Best Vegetable Product.