Gulfood 2026, the world's largest annual food and beverage sourcing event, made exhibition history by operating simultaneously across two sold-out Dubai venues — the Dubai World Trade Centre and the newly expanded Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City — covering 280,000 sqm. (PotatoPro) The five-day event hosted close to 300,000 attendees from 195+ countries, with over 8,500 exhibitors and more than 3,500 structured buyer meetings generating AED 168 billion in trade deals. (Gulfood Official) The expanded format introduced new Gulfood Fresh, Gulfood Logistics, and Gulfood Grocery Trade dedicated halls, reflecting growing MENA buyer demand in perishables, cold-chain, and private label sourcing.
Aurelane’s read
For brands considering MENA entry, Gulfood is less a trade show and more a calendar event — the place where annual sourcing budgets are committed and where regional distributors decide which categories they will back for the next twelve months. The doubling of physical space and the addition of dedicated Fresh, Grocery Trade, and Logistics halls signals that buyers are looking for structured introductions, not booth tours. Brands that arrive in 2027 without warm meetings already on the calendar will compete for the wrong kind of attention.