DuPont said it invests around $700 million, half of its annual $1.4 billion research and development budget, on boosting food production and technologies that can help address the expected rapid growth in global food demand.

A science-based products and services company, DuPont is also developing unique food industry solutions to address hygiene and food safety issues in the burgeoning Middle East food services industry, said a top official.

'Increasing food production is a priority initiative for DuPont. The company invests about half of its annual research and development funding to furthering this goal. Emerging markets, like the Middle East face different local challenges,' said Hartmut Reinke, director for Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

Hence understanding market insight is critical to drive DuPont market-driven science to penetrate and grow. We initially establish relationships with strong local supply chains and build a base of business with existing offerings and then use our science capabilities to develop products tailored to the unique demands of the local market,” he added.

Eser Acarkan, Food Industry Leader, Turkey, MEA, said 'One DuPont, a strategic concept, works through an industry initiative offering integrated product and application solutions to specific industries, for example the food industry.'

“DuPont is uniquely positioned to increase global food production across the value chain by boosting crop yield through advanced seed genetics, agronomic practices and product innovations that help farmers maximize productivity and quality; advancing the nutritional content derived from crops such as soybeans, while increasing accessibility to these products; supplying innovative packaging to preserve food quality; and developing efficient quality-testing systems to ensure a safe food supply,” she added.

The company will make a presentation 'Advancing Food Safety through New Molecular Techniques' at the 5th Dubai International Food Safety Conference (DIFSC). George Tice, R&D Director, DuPont Qualicon, will address the gathering at the session.

John Hoffmann, director Quality Assurance of Solae ( an alliance between DuPont and Bunge) will address 'Food Safety:  Quality, Trust and Integrity' in Session 14 on on Wednesday.

DuPont will also host a workshop on 'Advancing Global Nutrition and Food Safety'  in session 17 addressing global food industry needs.

DuPont, said Acarkan, offers numerous solutions to the world’s food needs. DuPont Crop Protection provides innovative technologies to improve sustainable agriculture for a growing world. DuPont recently launched the revolutionary new insect control product DuPont Coragen in Saudi Arabia, setting a new standard for insecticides in the Middle East.

As today’s consumers discover the health benefits of soy protein, Solae, is developing innovative soy-based technologies and ingredients for food, meat and nutritional products, delivering a unique combination of functional, nutritional, economical and sustainable benefits to customers.

“The Middle East is taking the food safety challenge seriously with increasing emphasis in the food industry and media coverage on food security goals. As the region develops in this area, advanced technologies and techniques that can maintain the integrity of products as they travel from the supplier to the consumer are required,' she added.

DuPont Qualicon provides food safety diagnostics that can reduce the impact of pathogens and unwanted organisms in food. Products like the BAX System provide rapid and easy-to-use tests for E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria and other harmful pathogens,” said Dr Doris Engesser-Sudlow, regional director, DuPont Qualicon Europe, MEA.-TradeArabia News Service