The Gulfood 2026 exhibition has announced its intention to launch the «Gulfood Grocery Trade» platform, specifically designed to serve the fast-moving consumer goods, brands, and grocery sectors. This move aims to keep pace with the rapid expansion of the retail and wholesale grocery trade in the Middle East, mirroring major transformations in the food and beverage system.
The platform's activities will take place from January 26 to 30, 2026, at the Dubai Exhibition Centre in Expo City Dubai. It will highlight the increasing strategic importance of grocery trade in ensuring product availability, price stability, and supply chain flexibility across the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and regional markets.
The «Gulfood Grocery Trade» platform, as part of Gulfood 2026, serves as a high-impact commercial marketplace that brings together manufacturers and brand owners, traders and distributors, purchasing groups, and those seeking expansion and partnerships, as well as sales volume-driven growth.
According to Gulfood 2026, the Middle East region stands out as one of the fastest-growing retail markets in the world, driven by population growth, urbanization, and the rapid expansion of modern retail trade.
The grocery and fast-moving consumer goods sectors are capturing a significant share of this momentum, with the United Arab Emirates alone recording approximately $40 billion in grocery retail sales, with an annual growth rate of around 6.5%.
The «Gulfood Grocery Trade» platform will feature a diverse range of regional manufacturers, manufacturing companies, and commercial institutions. The list of exhibitors includes: Agru Blund, Ajman Chamber, Al-Naqeeb, Enta, Bio-Tech, Dry World, Dubai Industrial City, QNT, Starz, and Umm Al Quwain Chamber. These entities will showcase their capabilities in packaged foods, dairy products, nutrition, food ingredients, and value-added grocery products.
Furthermore, «Gulfood Grocery Trade» has confirmed extensive international participation representing leading markets in the supply of grocery products—including China, Malaysia, Senegal, Thailand, the United States, Turkey, Vietnam, in addition to the UAE—which are supplying an increasing share of grocery products to the retail and wholesale channels in the Middle East region.
