In a region where almost all ingredients must be imported from abroad, Middle East chefs have had to make their peace with the price of produce; but what about the environmental costs of this all-imported diet?

It is a truth universally acknowledged — at least by chefs — that if you want top-quality ingredients in the Middle East, you have to order them in from abroad.

In a region where so few foodstuffs can be purchased locally, it is only natural that ingredient costs are much higher than other parts of the world, such as Europe or the US, where locally-produced foodstuffs are ready available and increasingly prized.

As Shangri-La’s complex F&B director in Abu Dhabi Ahmed Issa notes, the situation applies to kitchens across the GCC.

“If you have a French restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, whatever, those ingredients need to come from abroad to be authentic,” he points out.

“And even aside from living up to the theme of your outlet, if you want something simple like tomatoes, you have to source them elsewhere because they are not really grown here.”

Christian Jean, executive chef for the Renaissance Doha City Center Hotel, Courtyard by Marriott Doha City Center and Marriott Executive Apartments Doha City Center in Qatar, all currently in pre-opening stages, adds: “Some Gulf countries import as much as 90% of their food products, as they are not available locally; and catering to an international clientele, you have to ensure quality and choice are there at all times.”

Clearly the high food costs here are nothing new; but what about the environmental costs of all this ‘ordering in’?

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The practice of shipping or flying everything into the region obviously has environmental repercussions — and where other countries have turned to the home-grown market, it is unlikely that the international array of outlets in this region could or would do the same.

So is there any way this food-fuelled carbon footprint could change in future?

Dider Gusching has worked as a chef in the UAE for many years, and is known for his pioneering efforts in growing his own produce. Now executive chef at the Kempinski Hotel Ajman, Gusching retains an optimistic view about the future of the region’s food footprint.

“This is certainly my sensitive point — the issue of local products,” he admits.

“Local resources can and already have started being developed, but the UAE still has a lot of land and great potential to extend the reach of local cultivation.

“We are increasingly seeing chefs in the region growing their own herbs and even vegetables, which of course has an effect on their food costs as well as delivering the incomparable quality of freshly-harvested herbs and vegetables.”

Renaissance’s Jean agrees: “I really hope that in the next couple of years the Middle East region will invest more in their own agricultural development.

“We can see a trend for example in Saudi Arabia and Syria where they are cultivating fruits and vegetables. Hopefully soon more countries will join in.”

However this plan is not as straight-forward as it might seem, as The Monarch Dubai executive chef Ademir Husagic points out.

“The fact is that we are living in a desert environment. There is not much local produce so you have no choice but to import 98% of the food and beverage products used in the GCC countries to meet the demand here.

“To desalinate sea water to make the desert green and plant strawberries is a nice idea, but it wouldn’t really help. The energy used — which also leaves a high CO² footprint — could not be balanced out by the end result.

“In other words, there is no alternative to shipping in products in the foreseeable future,” he asserts.

According to Mövenpick’s Sabra, the answer is simply to keep on top of new developments and best practice.