MILAN – A gourmet business breakfast: This is the original formula HostMilano and Tuttofood have chosen to present themselves on 17 February in the Monogram Room of the prestigious Four Seasons Hotel in the Dubai International Financial Center to stakeholders and economic operators in the Middle East. And at this presentation, the two FieraMilano fairs devoted to food and beverages, hospitality and the large-scale retail trade will also provide a snapshot of exports for the sectors the two shows represent.
This is an extremely interesting area and one that is rich in business opportunities.
It is worth considering for example that according to ExportPlanning the bilateral commercial flows for the categories of products present at HostMilano between Italy and the Middle East – which in terms of countries means Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – totalled 1.006 billion dollars (according to early estimates), a figure that is expected to rise to 1.100 billion dollars in 2023.
More specifically, the U.A.E. ranks top in terms of the bilateral flows with Italy forecast for 2023 as regards kitchen furniture and crockery (which should reach 167.7 million dollars) and for food service equipment (78.7 million dollars). It ranks second on coffee/coffee machines/vending machines (41.1 million dollars).
These are companies whose combined turnover stands at an estimated 19.9 billion dollars: Italy is the world’s third biggest manufacturer here. Exports are in excess of 15.4 billion dollars and the Middle East imported products worth nearly 767 million dollars. In 2020, exports are expected to increase by 1.1% globally and estimates for the period 2021-24 point to a growth in CAGR of +3.2% worldwide and of +2.2% in the area, where in 2019 demand for these products stood at 2.9 billion dollars, or 3.3% of the world total.
This exceptional business breakfast will be made even more interesting by the presence among the speakers of Davide Gardini, the Italian chef who since 2017 has been in charge of the BiCE restaurant at the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah.
Gardini has 15 years of experience in the best Italian kitchens and was previously head chef of Eataly in the Dubai Mall. Gardini will be accompanied by the Arab chefs Nawaf Al Mhamid and Mohamad Al Ali, senior members of the Emirates Culinary Guild specialized in Mediterranean and Middle Easter cuisine and executive sous chefs of Shakespeare & Co., a well known restaurant group present in all the main cities of the Gulf.
