Events catering becoming more competitive in UAE

Discussing mass catering at the Caterer Middle East Chef & Ingredients Forum 2013, experts in the mass catering sector said events like the Expo 2020 will lead to increased competition in the market, and that expectations from this industry have gone higher.

Dubai World Trade Centre director of kitchens — F&B production Harald Oberender said: “Not only for Expo 2020, but the large-scale catering for events has to move up a notch. We have to raise our standards with the support of the government and the whole community.”

He pointed out that increased number of events bring a lot of business into the country and revealed that 60% of spend is on restaurants and hotel rooms, with 40% on the actual conferences and exhibitions.

Radisson Blu Dubai Deira Creek director of kitchens Uwe Micheel agreed and said that while the market is definitely on an upswing, even without the win Dubai hosts enough events to sustain the industry.

“In the past a lot of bigger companies wanted to bring their events here but we were not ready to host it. But now we are. So the expectations are growing. More and more overseas companies are also looking at sustainability and we don’t have that, they will not choose us,” Micheel explained.

“With the help of the municipality and supporting each other, we will improve standards and quality. There were certain things we couldn’t do before but are able to do now. We have to improve if we want to be part of the business.”

Abela & Co corporate chef Colin Campbell said that the market is a lot more positive and more buoyant, and added that he expected Expo 2020 to be a massive catalyst. “From a mass catering point of view, more players will come into the market. It’s definitely more competitive market compared to what it was before.”