Foodservice Network Gulf to discuss partnerships in hospitality value chain at roundtable

The event will be held on October 30, 2008 from noon - 3pm in Dubai Knowledge Village. This round table discussion will provide a multi level of sharing of information, experiences and knowledge between players from all disciplines of the industry.

Khalid Mohammed Sharif Al Awadi, Assistant Director of the Public Health department - Food control section of the Dubai Municipality, and honoree advisory board member of the Foodservice Network, will open this first regular round table discussions.

"The foodservice industry is developing in the Gulf area with a fabulous speed. I am very happy with this initiative which has been proven successful in Europe for the building of trust and professionalism," says Khalid Mohammed Sharif.

He continues, "I look forward to see this network growing, sharing knowledge and creating new partnerships in the foodservice value chain. I am confident that it will support the efforts of the Dubai Municipality's further implementation and acceptance of food safety regulations."

Demonstrating that partnerships indeed work, Adrian Dyer, COO of MEAD Group, based in Abu Dhabi, will share his business model that is leading towards a new way of managing workers residential villages and other innovative hospitality concepts throughout the UAE.

Foodservice Network Gulf's success depends on the quality and subject of the speakers, facilities, participants and organization. To achieve this success different decision makers from companies from all links of the hospitality chain, form the advisory board of the Foodservice Network Gulf: JohnsonDiversey Gulf, Unilever Foodsolutions, HorecaTrade, Al Jawad Group, Küppersbusch, Sirocco, Symrise Ingredients and Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

Servee Palmans, Regional Director of Six Sigma and Operational Innovation, Starwood Hotels Middle East, Advisory Board Member of the Foodservice Network Gulf says:

"I am excited to be able to meet through the Foodservice Network Gulf the strategic [sic] decision makers of my suppliers and service providers in a non-commercial setting, focusing on optimizing the entire value chain, leading to reduced complexity and ultimately better control of our hotel chain's internal operational costs."

The Foodservice Network Gulf is an organisation that aims to create a multilateral point of contact within the Hospitality market in the Gulf Area. It is inspired by and created for leading foodservice professionals from all areas of the supply chain.

In concrete terms, Foodservice Network Gulf organises a number of regular events featuring stimulating, international key-note speakers, top quality venues and essential market information. Generally speaking the members are invited to make their own contribution.

The Foodservice Network started in the Netherlands in 2002 and has rapidly expanded to a network of more than 110 organisations specialized in various areas in the foodservice supply chain. It was agreed by various leading organizations in the Gulf, a multilevel, multidisciplinary sharing of information, experiences, knowledge and forecasted requirements between players from all disciplines is required to develop the industry.

The result for the food and hospitality industry will be that new insights can be developed and joint-projects could be implemented. Similarly successful strategies can be captured, secured or re-shaped. These factors and the support of many leading organisations have prompted the initiation of the Foodservice Network Gulf, based in Dubai Knowledge Village in 2007.

Membership

In the first instance, the Foodservice Network Gulf aims to be of benefit to executives. It is meant for people with national and international responsibilities who work for leading international organisations in the hospitality sector; executives who consider it important to informally broaden their horizons at the highest level, to share experiences, to create partnerships within the Hospitality Industry in the Gulf and to develop their business and professional networks.

Foodservice Network Gulf is open to both suppliers, manufacturers as operators. This satisfies the requirement within the foodservice market to develop contacts with existing and potential business partners and exchange views on developments within the sector.