Dubai Food Park will be a dynamic food hub creating opportunities for companies around the world to capitalize on global food trading demands.
The importance of Dubai as a regional trading hub has progressed steadily since the creek was dredged in the 1950s to provide greater access to larger vessels. The latest development in this trading lineage is Dubai Food Park, a new commercial project scheduled for achievement in 2020. The park has the potential to be as important, not just for Dubai but for the wider region, as HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum’s visionary facilitation of trade that began in 1958.
On opening, Dubai Food Park will be the region’s largest free zone dedicated to serving the food sector, which is growing rapidly year-on-year and showing no signs of slowing down.
There are more than 9,000 restaurants in Dubai representing cuisines from across the globe. The range spans from the highest echelons of fine dining from some of the most famous chefs in the world to more casual establishments. On this alone, the emirate has proven it can import food, in commercial quantities, at the freshness, speed, and quality required. At a recent discussion with Jeff Galvin, Virgilio Martinez, Jamie Bissonette, and Ken Oringer – head chefs from Michelin starred restaurants – all agreed they could access a range and variety comparable to the Rungis market in Paris and often in a quicker time than ordering it in Europe.
Dubai already has the expertise and infrastructure to import to international standards and Dubai Food Park will take this to another level. By providing a one-stop-shop for a comprehensive range of food-related services within a dynamic hub, it will solidify the city’s standing within the region for food production, import, and re-export. The Food Park will offer services including customs and quarantine clearance, licensing, food safety and supervision, processing, packaging & re-packaging, logistics, and government services. Helping to reduce supply chain costs and foster innovation are two key aims of the free zone.
Food security, particularly within the MENA region, is a vital concern, with a report from the World Bank urging greater efficiencies in the import and storage of food commodities. Dubai Food Park not only responds to this recommendation but also leads the field by supporting the growth of food companies, reducing supply chain costs and fostering innovation.
Raith Hamed, founder of Balqees Honey welcomed the announcement of this initiative.
"As a company importing and exporting a luxury food item through Dubai, we rely on operations of the highest standards. This forward-thinking strategy of developing a centralized food park that also takes care of government services for re-export cements Dubai’s leadership position internationally and will increase the confidence of our buyers around the world as well as facilitating many aspects of the food business."
Opportunities exist for continued growth in several sectors, such as coffee, with the UAE already known as a key trading hub. Dubai’s coffee museum, set up by Emirati Khalid Al Mulla in the Al Fahidi Historical District, reflects a healthy local demand and a fledgling home-grown bean cultivation and roasting market.
Euromonitor says the Middle East now accounts for 8 percent or US$6.5 billion of the US$85 billion global consumer coffee spend. And that this could rise by as much as a third by 2030, indicating a very buoyant outlook for the market. Already the world’s largest re-exporter of tea due to the volume which passes through the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre annually, the free zone recently opened storage, warehouse and office facilities to play a similar role in coffee. A recent agreement with Hong Kong-based Mega Capital Halal now sees Dubai import around 140,000 tonnes of Chinese Arabica beans from Yunnan State Farms for redistribution around the wider Middle East.
The globalization of organic foods is also having an impact on the region. Several large food companies such as Heinz, Danone, and PepsiCo have entered this sector in response to rising consumer interest and demand. Differing national definitions for the word ‘organic’ is one challenge for exporters which the services provided by Dubai Food Park could help to overcome.
Another sector hugely reliant on the highest standards of hygiene and processing is frozen food. This market is predicted to grow globally with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.2% over the period of 2017 – 2023, according to Reportbuyer.
Set to attract and house more than 2,500 businesses with a collective workforce numbering 23,000 and up, Dubai Food Park is ideally placed to support the growth of food companies to meet the highest standards and demand from consumers. It’s a mouth-watering opportunity for investors.