The Speciality Food Festival, the ME region’s dedicated gourmet and fine food trade show, which opens tomorrow (October 25), will showcase some of the world’s finest gourmet products and ingredients.

It will also offer inspiration from the region’s top chefs conducting live and interactive cooking demonstrations during the three day show, a statement from the event organiser said.

Taking place till October 27 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the festival was launched last year to provide international access to the Middle East’s highly lucrative premium food market and offer prime opportunities for regional suppliers to expand overseas.

Companies from around the world will present a diverse selection of fine foods, from special breed meats and seafood to luxury chocolates, fresh organic produce and some of the rarest ingredients sought after by chefs in the region, the statement said.

The Chef’s Corner feature includes catering demonstrations as diverse as convection cooking, molecular desserts, South American snacks and nibbles, Arabic finger foods, pralines and chocolates and speciality ice creams, presented by six regional gourmet chefs.

Having expanded by 300 percent since the inaugural event and with 12 more countries participating, the festival provides an exclusive forum for international chefs, buyers and suppliers to sample, review, showcase and source products, and is a platform for focussed networking.

Additional opportunities for knowledge exchange will be presented through a series of educational seminars from experts including Euromonitor International and Dubai Government.

“The Middle East has one of the fastest growing high-end hospitality markets in the world which naturally leads to an ever-increasing need for speciality products that can complement this growth. The Speciality Food Festival brings a truly global selection of international fine food and offers the ultimate opportunity for chefs, buyers and suppliers to conduct new business and meet with potential new partners.” said Trixee Loh, senior vice president, Dubai World Trade Centre, organiser of the event. 

The 2011 edition of the food festival will showcase an even broader range of premium products throughout its four sectors including gourmet, seafood, halal and organic from across the world, from countries exhibiting for the first time such as Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, South Africa and Sri Lanka, the statement said.

Combined with the co-located events Sweets & Snacks Middle East, Sweet & SnackTec Middle East and The International Travel Catering Association Exhibition (ITCA Dubai), all four dedicated food industry events will run alongside each other providing visitors and exhibitors alike with the perfect trading, networking and cross-selling environment.

The exhibition is for trade and business professionals only and will be open from 10am to 6pm daily, it said. – TradeArabia News Service