» Positioning B2B

food tec middle east – strictly B2B - is being launched to meet the strong demand from the Middle East’s food industry for a dedicated international food & beverage technology exhibition. The event targets to become a focused meeting point, where decision makers from the Middle East’s food industry meet with top international suppliers of machinery and equipment to network and do business.    

food tec middle east 08 will be organised in conjunction with food+hospitality middle east 08, the Middle East’s International Food, Beverages and Hospitality Exhibition.

» Staggering growth:
   Middle East food tec imports amount to US$ 1.430 billion in 2006

The GCC and other Middle East governments consider the development of their food processing and food packaging industry as one of their top priorities. Studies confirm a staggering growth in the food processing sector in the GCC states from around US$ 1 billion (1995) to nearly US$ 7 billion (2005) in the past decade.
 
Major production facilities are being expanded for the production of snack food, dairy products, soft drinks and juice, vegetable oils, dried nuts and pulses, wheat, fruit and vegetable products, meat and meat products, pasta, seafood, biscuits, cookies and sugar.
The annual investment per factory rose from US$ 5 million to over US$ 9 million, and many of the leading international players such as Coca Cola, Delmonte, Kraft, Nestle, Pepsi Cola, … have set up licensing agreements with local manufacturers in order to produce their brand.

According to figures compiled by the VDMA Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Association, the Middle East imports of food processing machinery and packaging equipment have increased from US$ 990 million in 2004, reaching over US$ 1.280 billion in 2005 and rising up to US$ 1.430 billion in 2006. The most important importers in 2006 were Saudi Arabia with US$ 374 million, followed by Iran with 366 million, the UAE with US$ 185 million and Kuwait with US$ 54 million.