The 8th International Perishables Expo Middle East, otherwise known as WOP Dubai, opens its doors on Sunday 13 November, as the region’s only dedicated fresh produce exhibition returns to the UAE for another year.
On the first two afternoons of the three-day show, starting at 2pm, the Eurofruit Business Forum will provide a platform for overseas exporters seeking to boost exports to the region, as well as to service providers offering solutions for this challenging market.
This year’s Forum, which takes place on the show floor of WOP Dubai, kicks off with a presentation from Ronald Bown, chairman of Asoex, the Chilean Fruit Exporters Assocation, who will highlight the wide variety of fruit available from Chile, including cherries, blueberries, kiwifruit, citrus and grapes. Bown will examine the huge potential for Chilean fruit in the Middle East market, while highlighting the efforts of growers and exporters to improve productivity, efficiency and sustainability.
The opening day will also feature presentations focused on the importance of temperature control and quality assurance. First will be Gerry Mundy of Aircoolbox, a greener and more cost-effective means of controlling fresh produce temperatures during air transit. He will be followed by Therese Puetz of Karavan Management Consulting and Jeroen van der Hulst of FlowerWatch, who will both discuss how the quality assurance concept implemented in the flower supply chain can be translated into the fresh fruit and vegetables sector.
The second day will focus on overseas suppliers targeting the Gulf, including presentations from Abdirahman Harir of Kenyan exporter Harir International, Tom Premereur of Belgian vegetable cooperative REO Veiling, Raf Sels of Belgian potato supplier Pomuni, and Alexandros Arampatzis and Christos Lagouda of the Premium European Kiwi campaign, co-financed by the European Union and Greece.
This year’s WOP Dubai exhibition is set to welcome 235 exhibitors from 34 countries, including 14 official country pavilions for Australia, Belgium, China, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Italy, Kenya, Morocco, Portugal, Turkey and Spain.
