Turkey to participate at Gulfood

The Export Promotion Centre of Turkey says that the country exports more than 12.5% of its total food and agricultural products to the Middle East and lists Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Iran as its top markets. The most popular products are sugar confectionary and chocolate, biscuits, dairy products, flour, pulses and vegetable oils.

Hundreds of trade visitors and exhibitors from Turkey will be arriving in the UAE from 23 - 26 February 2009 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) and the additional venue at Airport Expo Dubai for the region's largest trade exhibition - Gulfood - for food, drink, foodservice and hospitality equipment.

Enthusiasm for Gulfood is demonstrated by the fact that Turkey will have the largest pavilion in the food and drink sector at the exhibition occupying about 1,750m² of space.

"Turkey enjoys an established trading relationship with the Middle East, it is well-positioned to serve Gulf markets and its products are enjoying increased popularity in the region" said Helal Saeed Al Marri, CEO, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), organiser of Gulfood.

"Turkey intends to further develop its trade relations with not only the Middle East, but also international markets and Gulfood is an effective meeting point for producers, suppliers and consumers from around the world,"

Marri added.

Gulfood is an opportunity for Turkish food producers to initiate new commodities to the market and strengthen established product lines, including its top exports to the UAE, namely pasta, sugar and chocolate confectionery and biscuits.

Turkey's largest exports to Iraq are sugar and chocolate confectionery and flour, while citrus fruits, barley and biscuits are at the top of Saudi Arabia's list and Iran's main import from Turkey is pulses.

One of the UAE's favorites - pasta - is a sizable industry in Turkey with a total production of 191,620 tons in 2006, out of this 33,639 tons - valued at $ 13.4 million - were consumed in the UAE.

The Export Promotion Centre of Turkey states that the country is a net exporter of confectionary products and the export value of sugar and chocolate confectionary reached $ 566 million in 2007. Iraq is the leading importer, consuming 12.7% of total exports of gum and jelly confectionery in 2007.

Another big seller, particularly in Saudi Arabia, is citrus fruit, with Turkey's exports of fresh fruit totalled $779m in 2006. Pulses are also a noteworthy export for Turkey with in excess of 1.6 million tons produced a year. Lentils and chickpeas are the major products and the Middle East is the biggest export market, with countries including Iran, Lebanon and Jordan showing significant demand.

"Gulfood is the best exhibition where we can reach our target markets. We continuously participate in this exhibition and most of our customers also come to the event every year. It is a good event to meet with our customers face-to-face and discuss current issues and take their new orders," said Orhan Dursun, export manager, GTT-Group.

The GTT-Group, that has offices in both Turkey and Dubai, has a product portfolio that includes a variety of foodstuffs, including macaroni, dried fruits, cereals pulses and nuts and its main sales area is GCC and African countries.

To support increasing specialisation within the market, Gulfood has introduced dedicated halls within the show for specific products and services, ranging from processing, packaging and labeling, through to beverage and beverage equipment.

For the first year Ingredients Middle East will be co-located with Gulfood. Ingredients Middle East caters to suppliers of raw material and ingredients for food, beverages, and health food being held at Airport Expo Dubai.

The 4th Dubai International Food Safety Conference, organised by Dubai Municipality, will return to examine the challenges facing the market including the consequences of food-borne illness, and new regulatory standards which have been introduced for previously unknown or unregulated hazards. Renowned speakers from around the world attending this year's conference include Prof. Chris Griffith, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff and Dr. John P Zoller, Intertek, Germany. Attendance at the Dubai International Food Safety Conference has consistently doubled each year with its inception at Gulfood.

One of the most popular areas at Gulfood is the Salon Culinaire, where 1,000 international chefs compete against each other in front of a panel of 20 international judges - each mandated by the World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS). The practical and display-based competitions will test the differing skills of entrants whilst also celebrating the preparation and presentation of food and its accoutrements in attractive and pleasing forms.

Gulfood will also host comprehensive beverage workshops, organised by Industry specialists Zenith International.

Gulfood is strictly a trade-only event and is open to business and trade visitors from within the industry only, proof of which must be provided at registration. General public and persons under the age of 21 will not be allowed into the exhibition.