RP firms eye slice of $12-B ME food mart

Nine Filipino food companies will participate in the largest international convention in the Middle East in an attempt to get a piece of the $12 billion food market in the region.

The Gulfood Hotel and Equipment Exhibition and Salon Culinaire, to be held in Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Center , is considered the largest and most important food event in the Middle East.

The event is also considered as a strategic platform for companies targeting the region.

The local participating firms are Fortress Food Manufacturing Corp., Fruitphil International Trading Corp., Martsons Food Corp., Mega Fishing Corporation, and Oceanic Exports (Manila), Inc.; Philippine Grocers Food Exports, Inc., Primex Coco Products, Inc., Profood International Corp., and Superstar Coconut Products Co., Inc.

The Philippine participation in Gulfood is backed by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) through the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM).

“We’ve been joining CITEM-organized international trade missions since 1989. This will be our fourth time to join Gulf Food,” Michael San Luis, managing director of Oceanic Exports  Inc. said.

“The Middle East is our second biggest market next to the US so any opportunity to join Gulfood we see to it that we participate,” he said.

For his part, Profood International Corp. president Justin Uy said they would like to participate in the trade fair in order to boost their Middle East sales not only to the locals but also to the Filipinos working in the region.

“We want to participate to expand our market to the Middle East: We expect to get more clients and more sales there,” Uy said.

During last year’s Gulfood, 2,500 companies from over 70 countries participated and more than 37,000 buyers from 140 countries visited the event.