Strong response across food industry to region's first Ingredients Middle East exhibition

Ingredients Middle East, organised by Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), will take place from 15-17 June 2008 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) and has already attracted some of the world's leading ingredient producers.

As the organiser of Gulfood, the region's largest food and beverage event, Ingredients Middle East will support the Government's recent drive to support domestic food production, to reduce reliance on imports and better control prices, and the result has been a rapidly-growing local manufacturing sector.

The UAE's food processing industry was valued at $3bn in 2007 and is growing at 11% a year. With a population of around 4.1 million and an anticipated population growth rate of approximately 6.9% per annum, the UAE is one of the fastest-expanding markets in the world.

'With such strong international interest, it is evident that Ingredients Middle East is meeting the needs of a key market sector, whose importance is only going to increase with time. With a fast-growing regional food and beverage industry - including rapidly developing specialist markets like Halal food and health food - governments and businesses are paying increasing attention to selecting the right partner to supply ingredients and raw materials,'

said Joanne Cook, Industry Group Manager, Dubai World Trade Centre.

Given the strong potential for business development, Ingredients Middle East has drawn interest from manufacturers, distributors and international suppliers who cultivate, extract, process or supply raw materials and ingredients.

The event will welcome almost 100 exhibitors. Key suppliers include market leaders Doehler Middle East Ltd; CHR Hansen Middle East Fzco; Transveritas; Agus SP ZOO; Reda Food Ingredients; Food Specialties; Maskem; Dairy Tech; Agrana Fruit Istanbul and many others.

China, Egypt, Germany and Turkey are among the 17 countries that will be present this year as well as India, one of the world's largest markets for raw materials in food processing which has recently announced plans to invest US$25 million in the sector by 2015.

Co-located with Ingredients Middle East will be the specialist conference the 'Arab Beverages Forum 2008', taking place on the 15 and 16 June. The conference will detail the current global situation and how it impacts the local beverage market.

Key topic areas include flavoring and packaging, as well as strategies to develop and position products to capture new markets. Delegates interested in attending the forum can visit www.taaheel.ae for more information.

Photo caption: The UAE's food processing industry was valued at $3bn in 2007 and is growing at 11% a year.

Ingredients Middle East 2008 - the 1st International Ingredients Exhibition for Food, Beverage and Health Food for the Middle East, Africa and Indian Subcontinent will take place from 10:00am - 5:00pm on 15-16 June and 10:00am - 4:00pm on 17 June 2008 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, Dubai, UAE.

Visitors under the age of 18 will not be permitted entry.