'Throw away your old playbook,' UAE F&B chief tells industry to plan for shocks

Dubai: With global shocks a constant threat, UAE food businesses are being encouraged to plan for the near-future rather than long-term targets. The message came at the eighth Future Food Forum, a two-day event at Le Meridien Dubai that brought manufacturers, start-ups, retailers and investors under one roof.

The initiative is part of the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism and is hosted by the UAE Food and Beverage Manufacturers Group (FBMG) and the UAE Food Cluster. The event brought together more than 750 CEOs and also had Amath Pathe Sene, Managing Director of the Africa Food System Forum take stage on Day 1 of the event.

In an exclusive interview to Gulf News on the sidelines of the event, Saleh Lootah, Chairman of the UAE Food Cluster and the UAE Food and Beverages Manufacturers Group, spoke of how the food sector has faced test after test, but has still come out stronger. “From the pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine war and, more recently, the conflict in the Gulf. All these things create a big test on the resilience of our food sector and our food systems. But we are coming out stronger from all these challenges,” he said.

His advice to businesses was blunt. "Throw away your old book. Your old book will not help you in the future, because change has grown fast and rapidly, with digital and AI in it." He urged companies to treat planning as a sprint rather than a marathon.

Speaking on the supply disruptions, Lootah said shipping pressures are a lasting shift rather than a passing problem. "It is our new reality. It will take time until things go back to normal, which we doubt."

How is the UAE gearing up?

The UAE's response has been to diversify. The food cluster first aligned its own value chain, from farmers and manufacturers to logistics firms and retailers, so that they could work as one. It then built links with other regions, including corridors with Central Asia, India, Turkey, Russia and Africa. "If one corridor gets disrupted, the other corridor can step up and make sure they fulfil the requirement," he said.

He also stressed that the cluster is neither a government body nor a private company. "Our role is to take out the challenges holding our sector from growing, from going faster."

Connecting small players with big retail

A central aim of the forum is to put local manufacturers and small businesses in front of the buyers who can scale them. Retail groups including Lulu, Carrefour and Union Coop took part, with more retailers expected next year.

At the entrepreneurs' stage small and medium-sized firms were seen pitching to investors and potential partners. "I was very impressed by the entrepreneurial and the small and medium business stage," Lootah exclaimed. "People start exploring potential."

This year's edition saw the launch of the Cluster Champion Award, which Lootah hopes will become "one of the most recognised global awards" in the sector, open to companies from the UAE and beyond.