Dubai Industrial City to play a critical role in enabling national food security at Gulfood 2022

Dubai-UAE: 10 February, 2022 - Dubai Industrial City (DI), one of the largest industrial hubs in the region, will underscore its contribution to enabling the UAE’s food security agenda and advanced food manufacturing at Gulfood 2022, the world's largest annual F&B trade exhibition. The business ecosystem will elevate the landscape for dialogue and collaboration with insightful panel discussions and networking opportunities at the gathering.

With over 780 business partners operating across eight sector-specific clusters, DI has been a strategic enabler of key national strategies advancing the UAE’s reputation as a global leader in industries of the future. The past year has witnessed significant growth in the district's F&B cluster as innovation-driven producers joined its diverse community of start-ups, SMEs and international corporations, advancing the directives of Operation 300bn and ‘Make It in the Emirates’.

Announced towards the end of 2021, WenChao Group is constructing a state-of-the-art food manufacturing and distribution facility in DI. The AED735 million facility will harness the power of advanced technology to support a predicted annual food production turnover worth up to AED500 million.

Sokovo is set to build a vertical farm, which will produce and supply thousands of tonnes of vegetables and fruits annually to hypermarkets, hotels and restaurants across the country. Along with diversifying the city’s food sources, the hydroponic facility will employ cutting-edge design and technology to reduce electricity consumption, water wastage and increase efficiency in line with the UAE’s Net Zero by 2050 framework.

Also supporting localised food production, Al Ameera Food signed on with the business district in October 2021 to set up three factories to drive up production volumes of Tahina, Halawa and virgin oil extraction, while expanding its existing product range. Al Ameera’s products are exported to over 25 countries, including the Middle East region, China, India and Australia. Al Barakah Dates is also expanding its current facility in DI to be able to process over 100,000 tonnes of date and date products annually. The 600,000sqft facility will be the world’s largest date factory once completed.

Sustainability will be a hot topic explored by Dubai Industrial City, reflecting the district’s commitment to helping businesses reduce their carbon footprint. Key experts will discuss how businesses can harness the power of advanced technology and data to cut down CO2 emissions, while spotlighting key business partners spearheading sustainability efforts.

Commenting on this year’s participation, Saud Abu Al Shawareb, Managing Director of DI said: “The push to empower and expand the industrial sector as the driving force of a sustainable national economy demonstrates the impressive foresight of our leadership. Food security is a national priority, and the pursuit of technology-driven manufacturing is key to cementing our self-reliance and reputation for innovation.

“At Dubai Industrial City, we aim to support national strategies by expanding the infrastructure for local agriculture, production and manufacturing industries, while placing greater emphasis on research and development to safeguard us for the future. Our participation at landmark events like Gulfood’s allows us to expand our collaborative ecosystem to impact a global audience, while shedding light on the incredible work of our business partners.”

DI will be leading several panel discussions covering a wide range of key topics and trends consuming the global food industry. From the potential of plant-based manufacturing in the UAE to the challenges of agri-tech, industry experts and thought-leaders will share invaluable insights at DI’s booth.

Gulfood returns to Dubai World Trade Centre from 13-17 February. Find Dubai Industrial City at CCM1.