Welsh food and drink companies are gearing up to attend the world’s biggest annual food and hospitality show in Dubai with the aim of identifying new customers and partners. Gulfood will be held at the Dubai Trade Centre and in this, its 20th year, is expected to attract over 5,000 exhibitors from 120 countries.
Supported by the Welsh Government, 14 producers from Wales will be in attendance under the Food and Drink Wales banner, all looking to promote their produce and increase their export market.
One company that has already made significant inroads into the export market is Ceredigion based, Llanllyr Source, recognised as one of the world’s premium quality bottled waters. Founder and Managing Director Patrick Gee recognises the importance of such events,
“It is not often you get the chance to meet with and discuss face to face with so many key distributors and buyers all under one roof, albeit a pretty big roof! As with many Welsh producers these days our market is a global one so we have to take advantage of these kinds of opportunities. Llanllyr Source is already distributed across Europe and America and our aim now is to increase our presence in the Middle East.
“There is a strong emphasis nowadays on a product’s provenance and its heritage and considering our water sources were first used over 800 years ago, we have a great story to tell and a fantastic product to promote.”
The Food and Drink Wales pavilion at Gulfood is supported by the Welsh Government and Deputy Minister for Farming and Food Rebecca Evans said that the Welsh presence at the event is another important opportunity to expand Wales' increasing export market,
“Our food and drink sector is one we can rightly be proud of and we need to ensure that everybody knows about it. It is also a very important economic driver – during the last four quarters Welsh food and drink exports were worth over £300 million, up 3.4% on the previous year, a higher increase than the UK figure for the same period.
“The targets set out in our Food and Drink Industry Action Plan reflect our confidence in this sector and underpins the importance of the support we give our producers to be able to exhibit at events such as this one in Dubai."
One company hoping to break into the Middle East market is Powys based D Sidoli &Sons who make luxury desserts for the food service industry here in the UK and in many European countries. Gilly Barber of D Sidoli & Sons hopes that exhibiting at Gulfood will open up new possibilities for them,
“We attended a similar trade fair in Paris last year with the support of the Welsh Government and had so much interest from buyers in the Middle East that we are now actively exploring all possible avenues. Having a presence at Gulfood will allow us to have direct engagement with potential customers.
“We have invested heavily in our Welshpool site over the past few years in order to meet the demand of European orders and we employ over 350 staff, which has a positive impact on the local economy. If we can develop our market in the Middle East we will probably have to look to expand our operation further, so fingers are crossed that we get a warm reception in Dubai.”
Gulfood 2015 will be held in Dubai from 8-12 February with 14 Welsh businesses in attendance on the Food and Drink Wales stand.