Welsh food and drink companies are looking to the Middle East for new markets, as they prepare to attend Gulfood in Dubai next month, a key international food and drink trade event for the sector.
Held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Gulfood is expected to attract over 5,000 exhibitors and over 86,000 domestic and international trade visitors from 170 countries with thousands of industry peers and people passionate about driving the market forward.
The Welsh Government is hosting a ‘Food and Drink Wales’ Pavilion in the International Hall where 16 Welsh companies will be attending all looking to promote their produce, identify new customers and increase their export market.
One Welsh company looking to progress in the export market and build on their success from last year’s event is Newport based Clarks UK Ltd, a natural sweetener manufacturer making maple syrup, honey, agave and carob fruit syrup.
Clarks UK founder and managing director Bob Clark, said previous visits had been very beneficial,
“Having attended Gulfood last year with the support of the Welsh Government, we made contact with a number of leads and the opportunities followed. One of the major supermarkets in the area is now stocking our products and we have also secured an agent from the region to help further with our international expansion.”
One company looking to break into the global export market is Wrexham based Bridgehead Food Partners, who specialise in artisan and speciality British Cheeses. The company also works with and supports a range of small and regional producers and manage their relationship with the retailers.
Bridgehead Food Partners are launching a new brand ‘The Cheese Creators’ at Gulfood, which aims to bring a number of artisan cheese makers together under one umbrella brand. Bodnant Estate based in North Wales and Caws Cenarth in Pembrokeshire are two Welsh cheese makers that are part of this new brand.
Director of Bridgehead Food Partners, Lorraine Beaton commented “Bridgehead has evolved to become a recognised player in one of the biggest UK food categories and is expanding internationally due to the increasing demand for high quality and innovative cheese products. We are now launching a number of products into the global cheese market which we are very excited about and very much hope that Gulfood will open the door to many new markets.”
Supported by the Welsh Government the Food and Drink Wales presence is crucial to developing the sector according to the Deputy Minister for Farming and Food Rebecca Evans,
“The development of both existing and new export markets for Welsh food and drink products will be essential as we aim to realise our vision to grow sales in the sector by 30% by the year 2020. Exporting can transform any business.
“With commitment and hard work there is real scope to sustainably grow the industry by 2020, seeing Wales becoming a leading food and drink nation. We are keen to assist both new and experienced Welsh exporters to attend and succeed at key events such as Gulfood.”
Established over 25 years, Gulfood has a well deserved reputation amongst exporters for delivering spectacular return on investment. Gulfood presents the opportunity to source and discover unique products from hundreds of specialist producers and over 110 international pavilions. Food and drink companies in attendance vary from speciality and fine food to the widest range of organic food and drink.
Gulfood 2016 will be held in Dubai from 21-25 February 2016 with 16 Welsh companies in attendance on the Food and Drink Wales pavilion.