Executive chefs and purchasing managers of large hotel chains, importers, distributors and international marketers, as well as opinion leaders, have an appointment at the Spanish EVOO Experience and the Spanish Mocktail Bar, the two gastronomic spaces available in the Spanish pavilion at the Gulfood fair, which was held in Dubai from the 16th to the 20th of February. These areas, which will be accessible by closed invitation, will have a specific program of activities that will include seminars, tastings, product exhibitions and information spaces.
ICEX Spain Export and Investment has intensified the promotion of food and non-alcoholic beverages at this fair, which will welcome professional visitors with great purchasing decision capacity from countries in the Persian Gulf area and the Middle East, as well as from Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe and Oceania.
According to this organization, the tariff changes and the commercial policy applied by the American Administration have made market diversification more necessary than ever. In this way, the Spanish companies dedicated to the production of olive oil have been forced to go to the markets of the Middle East looking for to increase their sales to balance the more than predictable fall of the market share of the United States. Therefore, Spanish EVOO Experience aims to present and train the professional public about the differentiated quality of the Spanish product, as well as to boost sales even more.
In 2018, Spanish olive oil exports to the countries of the Arabian Peninsula exceeded 71 million euros, registering an increase of 178% during the last decade, and concentrating Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates three quarters of the demand in the region.
Thus, the objective of these high added value spaces is to attract visitors to the Spanish pavilion, composed of 142 food and beverage companies, so that, among other things, they can develop networking actions with professional guests and project an integrated image of our international promotion strategy.
Torres y Ribelles, with its BETIS brand, is participating in GULFOOD for the 9th consecutive year. You can find us at Hall Oils & Fat - Za'abeel Plaza, stand Z3-B39.
Furthermore, due to the nature of the fair and in parallel, the commercial offices in Riyadh, Amman, Cairo, Muscat and Doha have organized guided tours for buyers and distributors from their regions, who will also be present at Gulfood and who will participate in the seminars organized in the gastronomic spaces.
A growing area
For ICEX, Gulfood is an essential event, not only to identify market niches and take advantage of business opportunities in an area of the world with high economic growth and a high demand for quality food, but also to establish commercial contacts from a wide variety of geographical origins.
During the first 11 months of 2019, Spanish agri-food products were exported to the Arabian Peninsula for a value of 703 million euros, which represents a growth of 3.5% with respect to the same period of the previous year. Saudi Arabia has become our main client in the area, with purchases exceeding 304 million euros, followed by the United Arab Emirates with 261 million and Kuwait with 44 million. Olive oil, with 52 million, is one of the most demanded Spanish products.
Source: Mercacei