The world’s F&B sector is expected to be worth $171.2 billion by 2023, according to a new report launched at Gulfood in Dubai.
The annual Gulfood trade show, which runs for five days, is expected to attract 100,000 visitors who will see latest products from 5,000 local, regional and international exhibitors at Dubai’s World Trade Centre.
According to the Gulfood Global Industry Report Outlook 2019, F&B sales in the MENA region are forecast to increase from $145.4 billion in 2018 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.33 percent. The report said that worldwide consumption of food and beverages will account for 8.9 percent of GDP by 2030 – up from 8.5 percent today.
The report added that demand for F&B products and services is largely driven by the world’s increasingly urbanised population, which is set to exceed 8.4 billion by 2030.
Of this population, the “young, urban” demographic is the fastest growing and is the largest contributor to sales due to increased spending power and affinity for Western-style food and beverages.
The Asia Pacific region is set to become the world’s largest F&B consumer in the same time frame, and is currently growing at above the global average CAGR in most industry sub-sector, including dairy, beverages, poultry, pulses, grains and cereals and ready-to-eat snacks.
The Asian fats and oil sector, for example, was found to be growing at 8.3 percent, compared to 0.5 percent in North America.
Of developing markets – outside of the US, Europe and parts of the Asian Pacific region – the Middle East shows the most potential for growth, with a predicted 9.9 percent growth between now and 2030, compared to 8.8 percent for Sub-Saharan Africa and 7.4 percent for Latin America.
The five-day Gulfood event, which began on Sunday, brings together Trade missions and over 5,000 exhibitors from 198 countries.
The event was officially opened by Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance on Sunday, accompanied by Helal Saeed Al Marri, the director general of the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority and the Department of Tourism and Commerce marketing.
The event also includes keynote addressed from executives drawn from companies including Carrefour-Majid Al Futtaim, IBM, Kellogs and others, as well as a start-up programme aimed at helping F&B entrepreneurs from around the world demonstrate their contributions to the industry and examine issues faced by FB start-ups and SMEs.
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