The Food and Beverage Manufacturing Business Group (FBMG) of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently organised a meeting with representatives from the meat sub-sector, the first in a series of assemblies and workshops with decision makers from sub sectors within the F&B field.

The meetings seek to build a collaborative network between all stakeholders, and mobilise value-chain partners under the motto “Collaborate, Innovate and Group”, said a statement.

Chaired by Ahmad Belyouha, FBMG board member and chairman of Emirates Macaroni Factory, the meeting brought together as several leading companies from the sector, it said.

Saleh Abdullah Lootah, chairman of FBMG, said: “The sub-sector meetings approach allows us to efficiently address the challenges and opportunities within the sector by breaking it down to smaller sub sectors.”

“This, in turn, permits us to put the right people in the right place and optimally employ talents and expertise within our sector,” he said.

Lootah continued: “As real-time information on market trends becomes increasingly expensive to acquire from research agencies, we have initiated an open-food data platform that will source information from all stakeholders, and support companies in their strategy-setting and regulators in policy-making.”

“With three successful initiatives launched in 2017 – namely: The Food Industry Report, the UAE Food Platform and the implementation of the FLW Protocol in the UAE to reduce food wastage, we have laid the foundation for a clear strategy to guide the sector in the years to come,” he concluded.

The sub-sector roundtables were held in the second and third weeks of January 2018, with sub-sectors taking turns and holding their meeting on different days. The workshops, meanwhile, are slated to take place in early February 2018 and facilitated by experts from Nielsen as well as UAE Food Platform architects.

The sub sectors in question span the processing of meat & poultry; seafood; fruits and vegetables; vegetable oils and fats; milk; milk-based products; grain mills products; sweets, chocolates and confectionary products; sugar, tea and coffee; spices; bottled water; and beverages.

Established under the auspices of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, FBMG seeks to create a platform for F&B manufacturers to resolve industry-related challenges and take the sector in the UAE to greater heights. Membership is open to any business operating in the food & beverage manufacturing sector in the country. – TradeArabia News Service