The largest ever contingent of Food & Beverage exporting companies from Sri Lanka successfully participated in the 22nd edition of Gulfood 2017 trade exhibition which is considered as the world’s biggest Food & Drink event held annually. It was held at Dubai World Trade Centre in UAE from 26th February to 2nd March 2017 from 11.00am to 7.00 pm daily . The opportunity was effectively utilized for the promotion of Ceylon Tea and food related exports from Sri Lanka to the UAE and Gulf region as well as other global markets.

During the current year, twenty-three (23) Sri Lankan companies participated in the exhibition displaying their products consisting of various food items under the national pavilion of “Export Development Board of Sri Lanka” which occupied a total space area of over 200 sqm, at the Gulfood 2017. The above twenty-three companies consisted of 13 food related exporters and 10 tea exporting companies. Further, two other companies also participated in the exhibition as observers through the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka.
Moreover, nineteen (19) tea exporting companies from Sri Lanka participated at the exhibition under the national pavilion banner of “Sri Lanka Tea Board” occupying a total space area of 226 sq mts in the Exhibition. On top of that, there were another large number of leading individual Sri Lankan tea exporting companies such as Dilmah, Akbar, Impra, Empire, Jafferjee, Anverally, Eswaran, Qualitea, Venture etc which also took part in the Exhibition. A total of 45 tea companies from Sri Lanka participated as exhibitors which is considered as an all-time record for any location in the world.

More than 120 countries participated in the Gulfood 2017 which is one of the World’s largest food and beverage trade exhibitions that is being held annually. Representing these countries, over 5000 exhibitors displayed a range of diverse products at their dedicated national pavilion. During the five days of the event, more than 95,000 business customers representing various food sectors visited the exhibition which was specifically targeted at the global business community. Thus, it created unique business opportunities for the exhibitors. The total area of the exhibition was 100,000 square meters and the food sectors of the exhibition was categorized into eight major product segments, i.e. dairy, fats and oils, health and wellness, pulses, grains & cereals, meat and poultry, power brands and world food. The event was declared open by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and the UAE Minister of Finance. The unique product segmentation at Gulfood exhibition was a new concept introduced at the 2017 event and a majority of serious business visitors appreciated the novel change.

The participation of Sri Lanka at the Gulf Food 2017 was successful in providing opportunities for the local companies participated million US dollars worth of direct orders at the site itself, whilst also establishing and consolidating a large number of business contacts between the Sri Lankan and the UAE companies. In addition further business order were secured with GCC and the other countries in the world, paving the way for enhancing Sri Lanka’s overall exports to the world.

At the inauguration of the Exhibition, the Halal Accreditation Council (HAC) of Sri Lanka received the prestigious GSO 2055-2/2015 accreditation award from GCC Accreditation Center. Thus, Sri Lanka is now registered as a recognized Halal Certification Body by the Emirates Authority for Standardization & Metrology (ESMA) which is a great achievement. Henceforth, HAC will be in a better position in facilitating exporting of Halal Certified Sri Lankan products to the GCC and member states including the UAE, which may augur well in enhancing Sri Lanka’s global exports, and thereby lead to earn much needed foreign exchange earnings to the Country.

The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Dubai & Northern Emirates coordinated Sri Lanka’s participation at the Gulf Food 2017 in association with Sri Lanka Export Development Board and Sri Lanka Tea Board.

Consulate General of Sri Lanka for Dubai and Northern Emirates
5th March 2017