International food processing and packaging machinery manufacturers and a host of technology pioneers have highlighted a range of solutions at this week’s inaugural Gulfood Manufacturing, a trade event dedicated to food processing in the Middle East, Africa and South East Asia (Measa).

The value of sector-related imports across the Middle East reached Dh6.49 billion ($1.7 billion) last year, with the UAE alone importing food processing and packaging machinery to the value of Dh1.16 billion ($315 million), according to VDMA, the German engineering federation.

Gulfood offered a one-stop-shop proposition for regional food processors to source the latest ingredients, processing machinery, packaging equipment and logistics, warehousing and cold chain solutions to enable faster, cheaper and cost-effective production of safer and more reliable products.

More than 1,100 global companies had lined up to showcase an array of fully-automated and customised processing and packaging industrial systems at the show.

Tribe LohMirmand, senior vice president, exhibitions and events management, Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), the show organiser, said: “Processed or pre-packaged food now accounts for more than 50 per cent of the GCC food industry, which has led to a renewed drive for efficient manufacturing equipment that increases productivity, reduces staffing costs and caters for more hygienic and sustainable processed goods.

“The Middle East is rightly viewed as a key growth territory for the global food processing, packaging and manufacturing sectors. Gulfood Manufacturing provides international machinery, equipment, logistics and cold chain suppliers with a tailored investment platform to gain an operational foothold in one of the world’s fastest growing markets and also delivers a specialist trade event for regional food industry producers to invest in business improvement tools to save costs and increase revenues in the ultra-competitive global food trade industry.”

As a platform conceived to spur growth and drive inward investment, Gulfood Manufacturing has leveraged Dubai’s strategic position as a recognised manufacturing and logistics gateway between East and West and the primary re-export hub to emerging countries and economies across Measa, said a statement.

With GCC food imports forecast to reach $53.1 billion by 2020 according to a report by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the spin-off Gulfood Manufacturing event has reversed the ‘finished foods’ focus of February’s annual Gulfood showcase and, instead, highlighted the region’s ripe business potential as a leading international manufacturing and processing hub, the organisers said. - TradeArabia News Service