20th edition of Gulfood was a huge success!

As usual Turkey has been one of the most leading national exhibitors. Selten Fair Organization led the way…
The 2015 edition of Gulfood, the world’s largest annual food and hospitality trade show, marked the 20th anniversary for one of the most important international platforms for the global food trade. Taking place from 8 – 12 February 2015 at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), Gulfood continued to play a pivotal role in connecting nations and suppliers, opening distribution channels for industry-related business, and highlighting Dubai’s strategic role as a key trading hub for the global food industry. As an experienced company in organizing Turkish participations in Dubai fairs, Selten Fair Services Company has organized the Turkish participation this year again. The Turkish exhibitors showcased a broad range of products including Turkish specialties and traditional tastes. With the 2014 edition of the show has broken its own participation records and generated show-floor and yearround legacy sales numbering in the billions of US dollars. Gulfood 2015 attracted more than 4,800 international companies from 120 countries and more than 85,000 visitors from over 170 countries. To accommodate the meteoric growth and tens of thousands of participating brands, Gulfood 2015 spanned 127,000m² of exhibition space – including a 23,000m², purpose-built temporary structure, the largest-of-its-type regionally.A unique trade and sourcing platform for finished food suppliers, bulk com – modity wholesalers and exporters across the spectrum of fresh, frozen, dry and processed food and beverage products, Gulfood 2015 also facilitat – ed substantial global transactions for foodstuff commodities such as meat, cereals, grains, rice, coffee and tea. Driven by a fast-growing population, burgeoning hospitality and tourism markets and its prominent position as a reexport hub, the UAE’s demand for food staples has been increasing at a rate of 30 per cent every year, according to the Ministry of Econo my. With imports accounting for be – tween 80-90 per cent of GCC food consumption, Dubai is best placed to cater for increasing demand in regional food trading. Gulfood 2015 hosted an increasing number of international heads of state, ministers and government officials, as national trade associations ink lucrative bi-lateral trade agreements and debate food industry trends at indus – try-shaping conferences and summits held during a series of Gulfood Con – ferences. Gulfood is also a major contributor to Dubai’s growing reputation as a glob – al events destination and a key pillar of Dubai’s 2020 tourism vision, which aims to double the emirate’s annual visitors numbers from 10 million in 2012 to 20 million in 2020. Accord – ing to a recent report by Euromonitor, the number of F&B outlets in the UAE is expected to double in the next four years, making food service and hospitality equipment a particularly pertinent sector at Gulfood 2015. Thousands of food and beverage products and services are introduced every year at Gulfood and the Gulfood Awards – in its sixth edition this year – presented an opportunity for best-in-class excellence was recognized and rewarded. The highly prestigious accolades celebrated both people and companies behind the region’s leadership and innovation in the food and drink industry. Judged by an international panel of independent industry experts, the Awards were divided in six categories and 10 different awards. Took place on the 10th of February 2015 at Dubai Conrad Hotel, the Awards evening also hosted to a unique and memorable celebration of the show’s achievements over the past 20 editions. Over 1,000 leading industry decision-makers, celebrity chefs, key exhibitors, customers, media and national groups attended the anniversary event. According to exhibitors, the quality of the trade guests at the ISM was consistently high. This is also confirmed by the visitor questionnaires as well as registration details. Top purchasers again came from abroad from large trading companies and importers. German trade was also strongly represented once again. The visitors came from 141 countries. The increase in the number of visitors from abroad was spread almost evenly across all countries. The number of visits from Asia, particularly China and Korea, showed a modest