As the official media publication of the region’s biggest F&B trade show, Caterer Middle East was on the ground at the event, which, for the first time, spanned a staggering five days. Here’s a look at what happened at Gulfood 2014.

The first five-day-long Gulfood event took place on February 23-28, 2014, and Caterer Middle East was thrown headfirst into all the foodie action taking place over the course of the week.

At the time of going to print, no official event figures were released by the organisers, but rest assured, it was a busy week.

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With over 4500 exhibitors and Salon Culinaire being its biggest yet, the show had a lot to offer — and we report what we discovered at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

New openings
One of the ways in which Gulfood 2014 was utilised by its exhibitors was to announce a move into a new market, or plans to do so.

Beirut-based design agency WonderEight said it will open its first UAE office in Q1 2014, followed by an office in London by the end of the year. WonderEight managing director Boudy Nasrala explained: “We have a lot of clients in Dubai and the area, so we have to be close to our clients. In Q4 2014, we will open in London.”

The company, which was set up in Beirut, Lebanon 15 years ago, offers a range of services to restaurants including brand creation, restaurant design, packing, marketing strategy, and graphic design. WonderEight also works with three other partner companies to provide a 360-degree offering to clients.

“We have an architecture firm that is very well experienced in the region with restaurants; we have a consulting agency that does a lot of engineering, food consulting, franchising etc; and we also have contractors and kitchenware. This works well for clients who are new to the hospitality sector,” explained Nasrala.

WonderEight’s portfolio includes more than 50 restaurants across Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, London, Paris, Canada, and the USA.

Kitchen equipment manufacturer Manitowoc also revealed the opening of a new sales office in Dubai in the Jebel Ali area.

Manitowoc Foodservice senior vice president — marketing and strategic accounts EMEA Graham Veal said: “We are investing in the region with a new office in Jebel Ali, including a demonstration kitchen for our customers to work on new menus, ideas, sessions with food suppliers, and we are investing in resources in terms of sales service infrastructure.

Manitowoc has also expanded its team in the Middle East, with the appointment of a sales project manager, a distribution manager, a global and regional accounts manager, key accounts and distribution manager, and an admin and marketing coordinator for emerging markets. The company will also appoint a culinary specialist to join the team this year.

UAE-based Raw Coffee jumped into the fray by telling us about the UAE chapter of the Speciality Coffee Association in Europe (SCAE) at Gulfood 2014. Raw Coffee co-founder Matt Toogood, who has previously won the title of UAE Barista of the Year, said: “What we are doing is highlighting the programmes that are available through the Speciality Coffee Association and we’re forming a chapter in the UAE. There are already about 15 companies that have joined up.”

Barista education will be pushed, said Toogood. Companies can enroll their baristas to go through a formal education process.

He added: “What’s really interesting is that we’ve got all the different companies all around the UAE who are competitors, but we work together because it’s all about the love of coffee.”

He said this move has a long-term aim. Toogood revealed: “We have got a three year goal to get baristas recognised as a specialty profession in the UAE. Just like you’d have a chef or a mixologist, we want the same for baristas.”

He continued: “Coffee is not just coffee, and a barista is not a coffee maker. A barista is someone who understands and loves all the aspects of coffee — an artist, a technician.”

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