Saudi Arabia’s annual food, hotel & hospitality Arabia, in its 19th successful edition, is geared up to welcome local and regional visitors when its doors open on Sunday.
Being held with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture, the 2014 edition, which claims to offer the widest range of products and services under one roof, and one of the region’s prime trade shows, will run up to April 16, featuring over 400 exhibition booths from Bangladesh, Bahrain, China, Cyprus, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey, the United States alongside local Saudi companies.
The event, Saudi Arabia’s 19th international event for food, beverages and catering, hotel equipment, supplies and services, will be opened by the Director General for Agriculture Affairs and official spokesman in Makkah Hassan bin Obaid Sangoof, and attended by diplomats, dignitaries, businessmen and experts from the food and hospitality sector.
Organized by Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions (ACE), the Saudi food, hotel and hospitality Arabia fair provides a vast trade and sourcing platform for exporters, buyers, exhibitors and visitors alike, as well as hosting a number of lucrative networking opportunities, competitions and live events.
As part of its extended five-day format, the event will host Jeddah’s open cooking championship and art de table competition, which gathers professional chefs, who work in five-star hotels and restaurants to showcase their creations.
The competition is sponsored and co-organized by Nestle, Saudi Arabian Chefs Table Circle and World Association of Chefs Societies (WACS).
The fair has proven to be a “highly anticipated event benefiting both the tourism and business sectors in Saudi Arabia,” ACE’s VP Zahoor Siddique said. It brings together a large number of participating countries from across the globe, while spreading Jeddah’s name as a premier business and tourism hub in the region.
The Kingdom’s food forecast consumption is growing since 2012 by 55.3 percent to reach a value of SR248 billion ($66 billion), outperforming other regional markets.
The exhibition will run from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Jeddah Center for Forums and Events.
