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Gama spoke to Mark Napier, VP – Portfolio Growth Food & Hospitality, ahead of the latest edition of Gulfood.
What are your expectations for this edition of Gulfood?
Our 30th landmark edition is a significant milestone for us, and our loyal customers have been instru
mental in building Gulfood into what it is today. We will honour the past, remain steadfast in our contributions and commitment to the global F&B sector and simultaneously look forward to the next frontier in food, collectively addressing the key trends, challenges and opportunities in the industry.
Gulfood 2025 marks the event’s 30th edition as the world’s biggest and premier food and beverage sourcing exhibition that propels valuable international trade partnerships, introduces the latest food innovations and informs key policies that guide global food commerce. Gulfood 2025 will host renowned chefs exhibiting their culinary skills and revealing imaginative new industry trends, and also see the launch of Food500 – a global CEO summit engaging the foremost visionary world leaders in thought-provoking discussions. What’s more, Gulfood will showcase hundreds of thousands of new products from 5,500 global exhibitors, across 24 halls of exhibition space. Our 30th edition is set to be even bigger, with 43% of exhibitors making their debut, showcasing exciting new products on the show floor, including first time exhibiting companies from Zambia, Mauritius and Madagascar.
Read this Tradeshow Look Ahead in the next issue of Gama News.
How is the food and drink sector in the United Arab Emirates and wider Middle East region evolving? In particular, how is it responding to global political insecurity and other headwinds?
The continued increase in domestic food production and international F&B trade with the region has cemented the UAE and wider Middle East as the focal point of the global food and drink space. Food security, diversifying food sources, food quality enhancement and technology adaption remain top of mind, with countries prioritising the development of strategic national plans to address challenges of nutrition and supply chain disruptions amongst others. The UAE’s F&B sector revenue is expected to surge to $38 billion in 2024, consequently, Gulfood continues to act as a pivotal catalyst for empowering local and global cross-industry collaboration and trade partnerships.
What other key trends do you expect to shape food & drinks innovation in 2025?
The ongoing concern among global players is to sustainably transform food ecosystems to feed growing populations. World food production would need to increase substantially by 70% by 2050 to satisfy the expected demand.
Consequently, the proliferation of artificial intelligence will continue to be of focus in optimising food systems and innovations including discovering new flavour profiles, enhancing traceability in food safety and more.
Moreover, evolving consumer preferences also mean that functional nutrition, precision wellness, less processed plant-based foods, sustainable production and reinventing tradition through modern fusion products are gaining traction.
Gulfood 2025 will deep dive into these and many other international trends enabling unparalleled insights that influence global food and drink practices.
About Gulfood
For over three decades, Gulfood has been the driving force at the heart of global food commerce—igniting innovation, sparking cross-cultural collaboration, and redefining the future of food. As the world experiences a sweeping transformation in food systems—powered by groundbreaking technologies, sustainability breakthroughs, and visionary ideas—Gulfood 2025 will be the epicentre of this revolution. This is where the next era of food begins, and you’re invited to be at the forefront of these seismic shifts.
