The UAE Food & Beverage Manufacturers Business Group, in collaboration with Dubai Chamber and Food Tech Valley, organised and hosted the third edition of the Future Food Forum 2022. Topics covered included sustainability, food security, retail supply chain management, digital technologies and the future of farming.

A 600+ C-level delegation, including ministers, senior government officials, business leaders, academics, and representatives from international brands and local start-ups, as well as international experts from Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, the UK, US, France, Switzerland, and Denmark attended the Future Food Forum, a two-day conference held at the Grand Hyatt Dubai in October, to discuss the sector's future opportunities and challenges.

Abdulla Al Saleh, Under-Secretary, Ministry of Economy, emphasised the need for the UAE to increase domestic food production and technology adoption in the sector in his introductory remarks.

According to him, the UAE, which is the second-largest re-export market in the world after the US, is crucial to preserving the region's supply of food and agricultural products.

"The UAE has embraced the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) approach to attain the goal of food security," he continued. The UAE has so far signed three CEPAs under the programme with India, Indonesia, and Israel, and is now in negotiations with a number of other key partners.

Chairman of the UAE F&B Manufacturers Group, Saleh Lootah, said: "It is an honour for us to host the third Future Food Forum, which highlights the rapidly changing F&B manufacturing sector. The problems of the pandemic and climate change, which have recently upset the food chain, have taught us a lot. We now understand that cooperation among the food and beverage industry, government authorities, and academia is essential to the sector's development. With the Future Food Forum, we hope to alter the F&B industry and pave the road for a sustainable future by offering in-depth insights into the value of innovation, sustainability, and digitalization, knowledge sharing, and a platform for collaboration."

With the aim of advancing a circular economy and paving the way for the transformation of the food production industry, the Future Food Forum 2022 will once more bring stakeholders together for in-depth and fascinating conversations.

The Future Food Forum 2022's key speakers will discuss the potential and difficulties facing the F&B industry, as well as the necessity for local and foreign manufacturers to play their part in order to support the region's sustainable economic growth and food security.

Over the course of the two days, there will be a number of panel discussions to examine the F&B industry and government relations with manufacturers. The focus will be on issues such new approaches to promoting food security, digitalization in F&B production, the circular economy, innovation, and the opportunities and difficulties presented by regulations.