The tour did not end, after taking part in Mewa, India, a very important exhibition of the industry of dry and dehydrated fruits, between February 12 and February 14, the Chilean prune delegation continued on the way to Arab lands to attend a new version of Gulfood that took place between the 17th and the 21st of the same month.
This is the biggest platform of food and drink business in the Middle East and Africa. It takes place in Dubai, in the Arab Emirates, and hosted a record of 5,500 exhibitors from more than 129 countries. Chileprunes partners did not miss the exhibition: Kaiken, Prunesco, Superfruit, Frutexa, Goodvalley, Pacific Nuts, Sunsweet, Silvestres, Sofruco, Onizzo, Agrícola Siemel, La Palma and South 365 were there too.
In fact, according to ProChile the 50th edition of Gulfood had a historic national representation: 28 companies supported by ProChile showed their products based on healthy, safe and sustainable food while other 20 attended as visitors. Chile was one of the protagonists exhibiting a complete offer of products represented by prunes, nuts, almonds, hazelnuts, raisins and oatmeal.
Pedro Montti, general manager of Silvestres, says that “in this exhibition we have always had good outcomes because it coincides with the beginning of the season. We are in full harvest and starting to dry so this exhibition is good because the customers check the buying programs and prices and we sit with them calmly, we analyze the previous seasons and we talk about what is coming. It is a way to start the year with a lot of information and to evaluate in a better way the steps to follow during 2025”.
As far as he is concerned, Marcelo Lacunza, Prunesco commercial manager, says that this was a very good exhibition, “we were visited by customers from all over the world; there was a lot of interest from Latin America, Europe and Asia. In general terms, the demand was very active. We have been attending this exhibition for more than 16 years and we have seen its transformation; at the beginning there were only customers from the nearby countries, like Iraq, countries from the Middle East, India and some countries from the north of Africa, but now it is a meeting point for customers from all over the world, where the season begins”.
Grace Díaz, Goodvalley export manager, agrees: “as every year, Gulfood was a well-attended event bringing together key players of the industry and giving us the opportunity of meeting many of our customers from various markets. This is especially relevant because it coincides with the beginning of the harvest and in this way we can confirm the actual demand of the market and it makes it easier to consolidate prices”.
During the exhibition, she adds, we could appreciate a dynamic market with an active and steady demand which reinforces the positive projections for this season. “The interaction with customers and potential buyers allowed us to asses tendencies, secure commercial relationships and continue putting our products in the international markets”, she ends.
