GULFOOD 2010: tasty triumph or too much to digest?

As Gulfood 2010 draws to a close, exhibitors at the biggest ever edition of the renowned F&B trade event share their thoughts...


Advance Baking Concept (ABC) commercial manager Masood Syed:

“This show has grown enormously; I personally believe that in terms of services, they could have done a bit better.

“I’m not being negative, because it’s a fantastic show, but its important when you grow this fast that your service grows at he same level.

“People in this region are spoilt for great service, so if you don’t manage to meet that there will of course be people complaining and moaning — and there have been a few issues with power supply, and that sort of stuff.

“However the organisers got on top of it by the end of day one, and things seem to have run pretty smoothly.”

EMF Emirates general manager Pierre Feghali:

“Footfall has been much better than we expected; when people come and see we’re bringing in new things they get new ideas and motivation to try new things, so we carry them along with our enthusiasm.

“Up to now, the show seems to have been much busier than last year — which means unfortunately we haven’t had a chance to go and visit the stalls around here! But all the new elements seem to have been popular.”

Kraft Foods business development manager MEA-DM Vikram Mohan:

“We have seen a very high quality of visitor; we were not sure what to expect regarding footfall, or what the visitors would expect from us, so this was a bit of a trial effort – but so far, so good!

“There is representation here from around the world – there are stalls and visitors from all different parts of the globe, which is impressive.”

Koma Middle East general manager — commercial Marc Doublichevitch:

“This year has seen a good quality of visitor; the number does not seem to be as large as the last few years, but the quality of clients is high. We have less visitors, but more prospects.

“On the whole, the show is looking good. There are quality companies from all over the world exhibtiing here, which gives a good diverse mix for the visitors. And I do think it’s stll a manageable size, mainly because it’s very well organised.”

“I haven’t had a chance to explore the show, but it took me a long time just to reach our stand — it’s a huge event!

"There seems to be much more nowadays that is for the consumer, rather than industrial, but this is natural progress; after all, all the industry professionals visiting are also consumers.

“I was impressed by the great turn-out; it just shows that the F&B industry is still going strong and people have remained pro-active.

“Although the huge number of exhibitors does mean that someone coming here for the first time would have to be very aware of where they were going and what they were doing, or they could easily wander around somewhat aimlessly!”

Monin MEI beverage innovation director Tihomir Gergov:

“Compared to previous years, I think demand is growing in terms of exhibitors. The show has got really big this year, and there are even stands in the main hallway.

“The taste of the consumer changes all the time, so it’s important to come along to Gulfood and see what’s new and what’s happening in the market.”