Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), a leading venue operator in the region, has signed strategic alliances with Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC) and Jumeirah Group for three major food events, which will take place in Dubai, UAE, next month.

The three events are Speciality Food Festival, Seafex and Sweets & Snacks Middle East, said a statement.

The events will be used by EKFC and Jumeirah Group as key sourcing and procurement platforms, it said.

The partnership will further boost the international profile and pulling power of DWTC’s trio of sector-specific, finished food showcases ahead of their largest editions to date from October 27 to 29, it added.

More than 15,000 local, regional and international visitors are expected to attend the three co-located events, said the statement.

Trixie LohMirmand, senior vice president, exhibitions and events management, DWTC, said: “With more than 600 exhibiting companies from over 60 countries participating in this year’s sectorised trade shows, our trio of niche food events offers the premier platform for regional buyers, retailers and distributors to source thousands of new-to-market products from every corner of the world.”

Khalid Al Fahim, show director of DWTC’s trio of October food events, said: “Aligning with such partners is further evidence of our commitment to facilitate on-event transactions.”

“We provide tailored trade platforms for international food producers to champion their world-class products to an audience of influential buyers with the power to spend at the shows. This is a great innovation story of mutual collaboration between leading Dubai entities,” he added.

Ninety per cent owned by Emirates Airline and based at Dubai International Airport (DXB), EKFC employs over 10,000 staff and provides catering and ancillary services to more than 150 airline clients operating at the world’s busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic, it said.

In 2014, EKFC provided 58 million meals – a 10 per cent increase on the 53 million meals provided in 2013 – equating to a daily average catering uplift of 159,000 meals to 450 flights. As its primary production hub, the vast majority of EKFC’s meals are produced at source at the company’s technologically advanced and fully automated DXB catering facility – the world’s largest-of-its-kind in terms of volume throughput.

Kieran Dowd, vice president, procurement, EKFC, said: “This strategic partnership agreement allows us to access a trio of key local industry events for sourcing and procuring a variety of specialist food products.”

“We look forward to seeing the world’s finest food products at this year’s hotly-anticipated shows, and welcome prospective vendors to meet our buyers and chefs and register their interest to work with EKFC at our stand located at CC2-20,” he added.

Jumeirah Group, a member of Dubai Holding, operates a world-class portfolio of 23 hotels and resorts in 10 countries. – TradeArabia News Service