Dubai to host natural and organic products expo

Dubai / Emirates Business

A revamped 14th edition of the region’s only natural and organic products show, MENOPE 2016, under the patronage of the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment will run from November 29 to December 1 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC) with a participation of over 140 companies from 27 countries including Saudi Arabia, India, Ghana, Turkey, the Philippines, Malaysia, and UAE.
MENOPE 2016 organized by Dubai-based Global Links, will have three distinct vertical focus this year namely, food and beverages, beauty & wellness, health, nutrition and alternate medicine.
Engineer Fatima Obaid Al Kalbani, Director of Health and Plant Development Department at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, said: “The ministry’s patronage of this exhibition comes within the framework of its interest in organic farming and organic products and enhanced contribution to food diversity.”
“In light of the increase in organic farming allocation, the number of organic agricultural crops and agricultural areas and growth in imported organic products, the ministry is keen to help regulate this sector, particularly with focus on the development of legislative frameworks which will in turn support the sector and enable it to enhance and compete in the market, as well as encourage private sector to invest,” she added.
Al Kalbani indicated that the ministry’s involvement in this sector is governed by Federal law No. (5) of 2009 and its implementing regulations. “These include standards and specifications on inputs in manufacturing of organic products, norms on fighting pests and diseases in organic farms and rules on storage and transport. The law also covers terms and conditions of organic animal production and nutritional standards of animal feed and veterinary products,” she explained.
In collaboration with the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology (ESMA), MOCCAE also oversees the administration of the UAE’s registered organic product trademark, ‘Organic’ as well as the UAE system for ratification of the inputs and products in organic food under a regulatory order of 2014. This regulation limits the imports and circulation of inputs and organic products which do not have the national `Organic” trademark or if the products are not compatible to the ministry’s recognized norms of production, quarantine regulations and veterinary rules of the state. The Ministry in cooperation with partners also helps in promoting local organic products across shopping malls and other outlets.
Elaborating on MENOPE 2016, Mohamed Khalifa Al Marar, Chairman, Global Links, said: “The expanded and demarcated focus of this year’s expo is in line with the current market scenario. While food and beverages may still be on the top of the sales pyramid of organic and natural products, in the last few years segments like beauty and wellness as well as nutrition, particularly in categories such as infant food, has gained momentum.”
He said MENOPE has evolved over the last nearly one-and-a-half decades of its existence with the maturing of the MENA market. “Organic and natural products’ market still remains nascent, however, the impetus for growth in this sector has accelerated considerably with increasing number of health-conscious consumers embracing green life across food intake, personal beauty grooming as well as in preventing and
responding to health-related
issues,” Al Marar said.
A Euromonitor study earlier had forecast that the MENA market for organic and natural products will be to the tune of close to AED 500 million (over US$120 million) in 2017, and has been growing at a CAGR of 12-15 percent for the last five to six years.
MENOPE 2016 will showcase a variety of products spanning across Herbals and Spices, Food & Beverages, Cereal Products, Supplements, Health Care products, Natural Living, Natural Cosmetics, Healing Products, Natural remedies, Traditional Medicines, Spas, Relaxation facilities, Pet products and Fabrics.
“MENOPE has consistently attracted trade visitors of quality and as a buyer-seller platform the expo is known to be an effective enabler of trade. This year we expect over 5,000 trade visitors at MENOPE and early indications are that a predominant share of this will be from the GCC,” Marar said.
MENOPE 2016 has also partnered with Dubai-based Al Ebdaa Al Zahabi Investments, an agriculture investment entity. Al Ebdaa supports Organic Guild, a company set up by two young Emarati entrepreneurs with the purpose of encouraging and developing the organic industry in the UAE.
The mission of Organic Guild is to shape the organic industry in the UAE by creating right conditions to upscale farms by employing the principles of organic agriculture, agribusiness, marketing, branding and education.

Rising Population, Expanding Retail Shelves
Citing one of the visible indicators of the growth of organic and natural products, Eng. Nadim Al Fuqaha, Managing Director Global Links said that a few years ago retail shelves stocking organic and natural products, particularly food and beverages, followed by beauty cosmetics were limited to upmarket shopping destinations.
“This has completely changed and going by the increase in retail shelves in high-end shopping malls as well as the robust exclusive presence of the products in mid-tier shopping centres and hyper markets are clear indicators of winning growth traction for these products in the UAE. We are seeing this happening in other markets of the region as well, particularly in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait,” he said.
An empirical random study conducted by Global Links across the UAE has also proved the fact that demand for organic and natural products has continued to remain on the upward trajectory and approximate retail space stocking these products has jumped up by a whopping
60 percent in the last four years.
“Another important factor is the increase in population of the UAE with an increasing share of educated professional class in the demographic tapestry. These people are acutely aware of their health and are conscious of good living habits and chemical-free organic and natural products are a natural choice for them,” said Mr. Fuqaha.
He also added “Thanks to the efforts by the government, health authorities, media and other bodies in the social space, the risk of lifestyle disease in the UAE s now a commonly discussed issue. One of the ways to correct lifestyle by changing dietary habits and wellness therapies through the use of organic and natural products is being accepted by a large section of the population increasingly.”
“We have always endeavored to create awareness among consumers on organic and natural products. Till last year we have only been focusing on knowledge properties such as workshops and seminars, but this year we are getting down to much more immersive consumer activities,” said Fuqaha.
On the business front, on the first day of the expo, a business networking session will also be held bringing buyers and sellers on one platform, facilitating commercial agreements.