Salon Culinaire will see more than 1300 young chefs participate in a range of practical and display-based challenges. Salon Culinaire will see more than 1300 young chefs participate in a range of practical and display-based challenges.

INCREASED PARTICIPTION
In order to cater to the 4500-strong exhibitors and more than 80,000 trade visitors expected to attend the show, the venue has also been sectioned into geographic zones to ease navigation and access to country pavilions and individual exhibitors.

The extra floor-space has also enabled 10 new country pavilions to be introduced to Gulfood’s 2014 line-up. Official pavilions participating for the first time include Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Basque County, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Mexico, Romania, and Vietnam.

Saudi Arabia, a key market for imports and exports, will host its own pavilion for the first time at Gulfood, with 14 companies participating this year.

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Consumption in the Kingdom is expected to grow 55.3% within the next four years to reach US $70 billion per annum.

Commenting on the decision to host a dedicated pavilion, Saudi Exports Development Authority secretary general Ahmed Alhakbani said: “Gulfood is an important platform for Saudi Arabian companies who are looking for trading partners both in the region and globally.”

“Local food producers, retailers, manufacturers and service providers are enjoying a boom, with market potential increasing every year. We anticipate a busy and productive week of business trading and relationship building,” he added.

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