The arrival of a new project linked to the countries of the Middle East
Alimentaria 2010 is focusing on the Middle East as part of its international expansion strategy. The aim is to promote Spanish products in this region and build ties for collaboration with associations, chambers of commerce, organisation and institutions. This is another step on the path to promoting the Spanish food and beverage industry throughout the entire world.
Saudi Arabia, Oman, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Qatar and Kuwait are some of the countries on which the Middle East Project will focus most heavily. In recent years, this region has experienced significant growth in terms of economic and trade expansion, and Alimentaria is not uninvolved. Bilateral trade between Spain and the countries of the Persian Gulf region has grown steadily in recent years: in 2007, the total volume of Spanish exports – from all sectors, not just food and beverages – was 2.99 billion euros, according to figures from ICEX (Spanish acronym for the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade).
The Middle East Project will carry out direct promotional activities through the office which ACC1Ó (a Catalan autonomous community government agency for the promotion of Catalan companies abroad) maintains in Dubai, where a marketing plan is being developed to raise awareness of Alimentaria and establish it in the region.
As a result, this project will be the culmination of intensive market prospecting activities in the Middle East in recent months, with a number of promotional activities for Spanish food and beverage products aimed at attracting as many visitors as possible and making contacts in order to invite buyers from the region. These included the FIAB (Spanish acronym for the Spanish Food and Drink Industry Federation) and Prodeca (Catalan acronym for the Promoter of Catalan Exports) conference held in Dubai, the most important of the seven states that make up the United Arab Emirates. It was precisely in Dubai that Santi Santamaria, one of Spain’s most internationally recognised chefs, with a total of six Michelin stars among his three restaurants in Spain, opened his first establishment outside the country in 2008: Ossiano – at Atlantis, The Palm Hotel – specialising in Catalan-Asian fusion cuisine.
In addition, the Middle East Project will benefit from the Rest of the World Distribution Conference, organised by FIAB, with the support of ICEX, the MARM (Spanish acronym for the Ministry of the Natural, Rural and Marine Environment) and Alimentaria. This event involves bilateral meetings between Spanish manufacturers and buyers from countries around the world, including the United Arab Emirates. It will be held 24-25 March 2010 in a specific area for the event.
Approximately 30-35 potential buyers from around the world will be invited. In 2008, importers and distributor chains from the United Arab Emirates took part in Alimentaria. Emke Group, Spinneys, T. Choithram & Sons and The Spanish Gourmet were among those which contributed to the conference.