DUBAI, UAE – Italy is turning up the heat on its culinary export promotion in Dubai next month when it celebrates being the first ‘Country Partner’ of the Dubai World Trade Centre’s (DWTC) Speciality Food Festival – the event for gourmet food professionals – running November 7-9.
At the Speciality Food Festival, which is one of a trio of specialist food events running alongside Gulfood Manufacturing, more than 35 Italian companies will take part in a national promotion led by the Italian Trade Agency (ITA). The Italian pavilion is the event’s largest pavilion and is 10 percent bigger than previous editions.
“The UAE food market is one of the most important markets for Italian exports in the MENA region. This relationship between the two countries stems from the UAE’s constant drive towards providing the finest food products and Italy’s known standing as the world’s leading food culture provider,” said Gianpaolo Bruno, Italian Trade Commissioner to the UAE, Oman and Pakistan.
Italian products of exceptional authentic quality on show hail from several regions of the country mainly the southern regions.
They include 100 percent extra virgin olive oil, flavoured oils, olives, condiments, rice and pasta, sauces, canned vegetables, snacks, tortillas, pop-corn, variety of cheese, canned seafood, ready-to-eat fresh vegetables and salads, herbs, teas, confetti, ice cream ingredients, chocolate, pistachio, marmalades, spreads, , truffles, mushrooms, coffee and caviar.
The promotion also features one of Italy’s most pioneering agri-food biotechnology research and development system providers, C&M Bioscience, which will introduce a ground-breaking supply chain monitor, equipped with software for food traceability and an innovative remote control system with an industrial router to automate recordings.
Brand new to Italy’s show promotion in Dubai will be the ‘Breakfast Made In Italy’ a workshop project aiming to inform local operators about the latest trends for Breakfast preparation and designated for coffee shops, restaurants and hotels.
“The aim of this project is to upgrade product supply quality, optimise trading costs, train employees and improve functionality,” said Bruno.
The project is the brainchild of the Italian CNA, the Italian Confederation of Craft Sector and Medium and Small Enterprises – supported by the Italian Trade Agency ITA and the Italian Ministry of Economic Development.
“Participating companies will have the opportunity to create and showcase the perfect breakfast – starting with a fragrant Italian espresso and combining excellent products, services and hospitality tools – to build bridges between producers, hotel managers and final consumers,” added Bruno.
Ten Italian companies from the Italian hospitality sector will combine expertise for the Italian breakfast preparation showcasing a wide range of products from professional breakfast equipment, ingredients and raw materials – such as flour, jams, honey, juices, fresh juices – to a complete selection of breakfast goods.
“Breakfast is globally considered as one of the strengths of the hospitality field with 83 per cent of clients choosing to have breakfast at their hotel and most of them considering the morning buffet essential and an efficient evaluation criterion.
Breakfast preparation is also what defines the quality of hospitality; it has to be well set up, salutary, featured with a wide range of products and functional,” says a statement from CNA.
The Italy Country Partner initiative is new to the Speciality Food Festival of Dubai, which is now in its seventh year. Its aim is to spotlight the potential of a leading player within the Middle East’s gourmet food sector.
“With the UAE food market being one of the most important in the region for Italian producers the country was an obvious choice for our first national partner,” said Andrew Pert, Portfolio Exhibitions Director, DWTC.
“The pavilion houses some of the most innovative and long-established players in the Italian gourmet sector – a veritable ‘who’s who’ of Italian cuisine.”
The Speciality Food Festival is part of a trio of conveniently segmented food events which also features SEAFEX, devoted to seafood, and Yummex Middle East, the region’s leading international trade fair for the confectionery and snacks market.
The shows are co-located alongside Gulfood Manufacturing, the Middle East’s biggest food manufacturing, processing, packaging, logistics and materials handling exhibition which together attract more than 30,000 attendees looking to allocate their annual food & beverage budgets.
Open 10am – 6pm from 7- 9 November 2016, The Speciality Food Festival 2016 is for trade and business professionals only. The general public and persons under the age of 21 will not be permitted entry. Registration is available at the show upon proof of trade status.
