DUBAI — Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, opened Sunday Gulfood 2019, the 24th edition of the world’s largest annual food and beverage trade show at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

The five-day mega exhibition, which runs until Thursday 21 February, has once again attracted high-calibre interest including ministers, top trade envoys and national organizations from the four corners of the globe. The show offers a platform for game-changing business deals, new market opportunities and emerging trends while setting the agenda for the future of food.

Top-level trade missions have converged on Gulfood 2019 from 198 countries to highlight the quality and diversity of their products to feed the region’s needs. The Gulfood Global Industry Outlook Report 2019, complied by Euromonitor International, which is officially released at the show, forecasts F&B sales in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region will rise from $145.4 billion in 2018 to $171.2 billion by 2023 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.33 per cent.

Running alongside the main exhibition, the new three-day Gulfood Innovation Summit will bring together some the major players in the industry to examine the latest challenges and opportunities in the global F&B landscape. — SG