Abu Dhabi urges hotels to use local produce in F&B

A new campaign by Abu Dhabi’s tourism authorities is encouraging hotels across the emirate to use more produce from local farmers in their restaurants and F&B offerings.

The ‘Go Local’ campaign has seen Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) partner with Abu Dhabi Farmers’ Services Center (ADFSC) a government education and extension resource for 24,000 farmers in the emirate.

It was rolled out at a recent meeting in Al Ain, in the emirate’s agricultural heartland, with F&B professionals from 14 hotels from around the emirate briefed on the range of local produce available under ADFSC’s ‘Local Harvest’ brand.

"TCA organised the meeting to ensure that local hospitality professionals are aware of the range, and outstanding quality, of the produce that ADFSC can supply," said ADFSC special contracts unit head Mansoor Mohammad Al Ali.

"By bringing supplier and buyer together, we can help the emirate’s F&B sector deliver the freshest of product, from farm to table, to their guests and heighten the tourism industry’s quality delivery."

ADFSC’s Local Harvest brand represents 42 product lines ranging from fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, honey and dates.

"Now that the F&B sector is waking up to what is produced locally here, we hope the business relationship between local farmers through the ADFSC and our hospitality professionals can strengthen," said TCA Abu Dhabi hospitality and attractions unit head Reem Al Mahri.

In the recently Caterer Middle East Head Chef Survey 2014, one of the key findings was that the use of local produce is becoming increasingly important to chefs in the region.