Gulfood to kick off on Feb 20

The world’s largest annual global food and beverage sourcing event in the world, Gulfood, will take place from February 20 to 24. It will bring together F&B communities from across the world in Dubai to chart the way forward for this rapidly-evolving sector.

The 28th edition of the show is set to be 30 per cent larger than the previous years, with 1,500 of the 5,000+ confirmed exhibitors new to the show. Gulfood 2023’s record scale is due in part to the introduction of Gulfood Plus, a new bespoke hall, where first-time exhibitors will showcase product innovations.

Popular global brands exhibiting include: Americana, Agthia, Fonterra, Unilever, GMG, McCain, Monin, USAPEEC, Hunter Foods, ASMAK, Minerva Foods, U.S. Dairy Export Council, Frinsa Group, Emirates Snacks Foods and Al Rabie to name a few; as well as newcomers including Brazilian food processing company: BRF Global and Agricultural, and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

Gulfood 2023 will launch the ‘Dubai World Cuisine’ Movement, which aims to provide a platform for homegrown chefs to collaboratively shape the cultural identity of Dubai and establish it on the world’s culinary map. For 2023, Singapore has been selected, for the nation’s vibrant and diverse culinary scene from Michelin-starred restaurants to UNESCO-recognised street food.

The programme will see six iconic chefs from Singapore hosted in six restaurants in Dubai in February with masterclasses and fringe dinners outside of the event, across the city. Two months later in May, the Dubai chefs will then be hosted in Singapore for six dinners under the umbrella of Dubai World Cuisine by Gulfood.

The Gulfood Global Forest — an international tree-planting campaign and nature-based solution to the events’ sustainability commitments, to conserve, restore and grow trees across the globe — will help curb climate change. The food industry is known to be a major carbon emitter, and the Gulfood Forest will enable stakeholders of the event from exhibitors and visitors, to speakers, chefs and the wider public to get involved and plant trees to help restore global forests.

The trees already planted will support 2,000 families and sequester 1 million-kg of CO2 over the trees’ lifetime.

Gulfood Green - a new global sustainability initiative - is expected to ignite and continue conversations within the wider F&B community to create a momentous shift towards more resilient and sustainable food production and consumption. Gulfood Green has already started planting in four countries: UAE, Uganda, Ecuador and Indonesia, with fruit-bearing trees planted in a number of the locations to enable families and local communities to become self-sufficient.

The Gulfood Inspire Conference will champion core themes of sustainability, quality and access. Ministers, global F&B value chain leaders, entrepreneurs, civil society and industry experts will lead a series of keynotes, panel discussions and showcases.