Yummex Middle East 2019 will be staged alongside Gulfood Manufacturing, the largest trade fair for food manufacturing in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, for the first time in three years.

Together yummex and Gulfood Manufacturing cover the entire value chain — from suppliers, to manufacturers and through to trade. Show organizer Koelnmesse will also stage a new event, PRIME, which focuses on themes related to private label and licensing. 

Set for Oct. 29-31 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, yummex ME will feature global group stands from Brazil, China, Germany, Greece and Cyprus, India, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Turkey, Ukraine and the USA and Mexico. Famous companies such as Jelly Belly (USA), Saudi Ice Cream (Saudi Arabia), Trolli (Germany) and United Confectioners (Russia) will present existing and new products. 

Furthermore, strong growth from the Eastern European market has been recorded on the exhibitor side, especially from Poland, Russia and the Ukraine. Exhibitors from Macedonia and Moldova are showing their product ranges at the trade fair for the first time. 

"Overall, high growth rates in the different sections of the sweets and snacks sector are indicated for the MENA region,” Yummex Director Jan Philipp Hartmann said. “Hence, yummex ME offers direct access to an attractive market with high turnover potential." 

The yummex Innovation Award will be awarded for the sixth time. Forward-looking products are judged in the categories of “Best Bakery Product,” “Best Chocolate Product,” “Best Hard & Soft Candy Product,” and “Best Snack Product.” The yummex Innovation Award offers yummex ME exhibitors an ideal platform to present their innovative products. All submitted entries will be on display in the Innovation Gallery and will be presented to the international audience during the event. 

Yummex ME 2019 is ideal for establishing business contacts in the lead-up to the EXPO 2020, which is being staged in Dubai from October 2020 to April 2021. The trade fair brings national and international producers, suppliers and decision-makers from the sweets and snacks categories together with buyers from the retail and wholesale segments together in a targeted manner.