Household names in the food industry, both from within the region and outside, are among the many who have registered at this year’s Gulfood event.

One of them is Saudi Arabia’s Sadia, the Middle East’s poultry brand leader. “Sadia’s range of products including whole chicken, chicken parts, whole turkey, turkey parts and processed products are tailor-made to meet the needs of the food service industry in terms of quality, convenience, variety, value and portion control,” a company spokesman says.
“Sadia products are constantly evolving to meet the needs of this fast-moving and dynamic market.”
Once again Sadia will be a main sponsor of the Salon Culinaire held alongside GulfFood 2005, where Sadia’s stall will be providing a variety of products, especially the newly introduced Sadia pizzas and lasagnas.
Also a participant at the event is Supreme Foods Co (SFC), established in 1962 and which describes itself as a pioneer in Saudi Arabia’s poultry and meat industry.
Its operations include the breeding, processing and marketing of chickens. Some of its value-added products are nuggets, burgers and steaks; processed meat, imported meat (chilled and frozen lamb and beef), specialty products for the catering industry and the fruit-flavored iced drink (Slush).
SFC’s chicken product range is marketed under the Tanmiah brand.
Food from Britain (FFB) has organised the British food pavilion, which includes impressive exhibits from 11 UK food and drink producers, many of whom are exhibiting at Gulfood for the first time.
“All are eager to find and build business in the important Middle East market, and will be looking to attract visitors through their impressive display of quality products,” a spokesman for FFB said. Exhibits on display will include bakery ingredients, chocolates, condiments, dairy products, honey, Welsh meat, seafood, tea, toffees, tortilla wraps.
FFB, the market development consultancy for British food and drink companies, helps build UK and international business for food and drink manufacturers.
“Funded by industry and government, we work annually with 900 UK food and drink producer,” the spokesman said.
Also a participant at Gulfood will be Masafi, a leading producer of pure natural mineral water in the Gulf.
The following companies are among those that will be present  at the show.
• United Food Industries Corp is the only individually wrapped slice (IWS) cheese producer in Saudi Arabia.  Its Pride brand has attained a solid market reputation for its premium quality.
“Focusing on the food sector, United Food Industries Corp and Schreiber International of the United States have introduced the start-up of a new casting line for the production of E-Z pick processed cheese slices,” a UFC spokesman says.
The company produces (including for private labels) over 30 per cent of the IWS cheese sold in Saudi Arabia.  Its customers include McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Herfy, Hardee’s and most other international franchises.
• Valley Produce Company was established by passionate, renowned Australian chef, Christopher Smith, and is proud to be one of Australia’s most recognised and respected gourmet food companies. 
The company sources many ingredients from the Yarra Valley in Victoria - hence the name Valley Produce Company - which is renowned as one of Australia’s most prestigious food and wine regions.  Valley Produce Company specialises in a range of cheese condiments and infused olive oils, and is particularly renowned for its Fruit Pyramids, Truffle Infused Honey, Crackerthins and lemon-infused olive oil. 
It supplies to leading gourmet delicatessens, restaurants and food stores throughout Australia, and is currently exporting to America, Dubai, England and New Zealand.  Its Fruit Pyramids brand recently received international recognition at the Fancy Food Show 2004 in San Francisco, USA, with the award of “best product of the aisle”.
 • The Sri Lanka Tea Board is one of the leading international organisations that will be present at Gulfood.
Sri Lanka, being the third largest black tea producer and the largest black tea exporting country in the world, has a diversity of tea products to offer.  Currently Sri Lanka exports teas to more than 100 different countries and tea drinkers look for its variety of tea products such as speciality teas produced in the different agro-climatic regions of Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board will conduct special Ceylon Tea programmes on the “Diversity of Ceylon Tea.”  An information desk on Ceylon Tea will also be maintained.
The participating companies, aligned to the board, will have a wide range of Ceylon Tea products for display, ranging from black and green teas in loose packets, bags, flavoured and non flavoured, instant teas and organic teas.  Also on view will be gift tea packs such as metal cans, porcelain caddies, gold teapots, cloth pouches, wooden boxes and brass and silver caddies.  The product range of flavoured teas includes more than 150 different types.
• The Southern United States Trade Association (Susta) is a non-profit agricultural export trade development association comprising the departments of agriculture of the 15 southern states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
“Since 1973, our programmes and services have assisted exporters of high-value food and agricultural products. Susta is funded by the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), its member states and private companies. The FAS administers and executes many foreign market development activities.
From its booth it will give details about available food products from the Southern US region as well as about the association.
• Hobart Foster International is the European export arm of the global catering equipment manufacturer ITW Food Equipment Group. Its brands include Hobart, Foster, Vulcan, Wolf, Traulsen, MBM, Colged, Elettrobar and Dexion.
Hobart Foster manufactures and supplies dishwashing, cooking, refrigeration and food-preparation equipment to the hotel, restaurant, airline catering and   institutional and QSR markets of the Middle East through a long-established network of distributors and dealers who provide local warehousing, sales support, installation and after-sales service.
HFI provides daily support to its end-user customers and distributors from its regional office in Dubai, which was established in 1990.
• Unilever Foodsolutions is the foodservice business of Unilever. It is one of the largest foodservice businesses in the world, operating in more than 65 countries around the globe.
“Unilever Foodsolutions is focused on delivering innovative and relevant products and solutions to the professional chef, and caterer, leveraging on its global brands such as Knorr, Hellmann’s, Flora and Lipton,” a company spokesman says.
• Established in 1989, Thailand’s Vita Food Factory is one of the major players in the processed food export sector and has a significant presence in Middle East markets. The company’s annual export volume is 5-6 million cases.
The company produces and distributes canned vegetables and fruits, canned pineapples, pineapple juice concentrate, canned fruit juice, frozen vegetables and fruits and dehydrated fruits under the brand of Vita Food, Fresh Way and My Fruit. It also manufactures products under its customers’ brands such as Libby’s, Liberty Gold, Bala, Golden Valley and Sunkist.