This week’s visit to the Gulf by prime minister David Cameron has been billed as the strengthening of relationships with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

According to several reports, Saudi officials have expressed annoyance over a parliamentary inquiry expected to look into the country’s human rights record and allegedly there was talk of reconsidering its ties with the UK.

Cameron is hoping to smooth the waters not just to secure existing contracts, but for further trade between the UK and the region.

It is not just the aerospace and oil industries that will be hoping the visit is a success; many fresh produce businesses will be watching with interest given the difficulties that the Middle East has been experiencing and the impact upon UK trading.

Dubai is at the heart of the Middle East’s fresh produce trade and has felt the impact of the Arab Spring uprising. Not surprisingly, food security has become a major task.

Hamad Buamim, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s director general, says it is a recognised priority. “Food security is a very important issue for the UAE. The country imports the vast majority of its food and so establishing strong partnerships with key food producing nations is vital,” he adds.

“Last year UAE food consumption was valued at AED 26.5 billion (£4.5 billion) and this is forecast to rise to AED 34.8 billion (£5.9 billion) by 2016. At the same time per capital food consumption is expected to increase from AED 3,527 (£599) last year to AED 4,156 (£706) in 2016.”

The UK is the fourth-largest supplier of food to the UAE. Although the amount of fresh produce is small, it could potentially increase with the decision by Saudi Arabia to halt the export of certain products, including onions and potatoes, to conserve its dwindling water supplies.

Good relationships with UAE officials would be of considerable advantage for UK suppliers looking to expand exports, with the kingdoms of Bahrain and Qatar also likely to require supplies to supplement the ones they will lose following the ban.

While the UAE was hit by the global economic slump, leaving many of its previously booming hotels and foodservice outlets scrabbling for trade, it is now in recovery with tourists once again booking trips. This inevitably means that sales of fresh food are on the increase.

“The market has been good,” says Hani Ayloush, owner of Fruit Line Trading, an importer at Dubai’s Al Aweer wholesale market. “In my opinion, the recovery was complete a year ago. Since then it has been getting better and better, with new projects starting up all the time and new restaurants opening,” he explains.

Meanwhile, the continued disruption in the Middle East is still impacting on producers importing to the UK and Europe. For Egyptian companies the main issue is a lack of direct shipping routes. Post revolution, there are no direct lines to Felixstowe and many are sending containers via Italy, increasing costs.

Exporter FayedEx says that this cost is almost three times as much as it is to send direct to the UK. “We send 60-65 per cent of our production to the UK,” says chairman Hamdy Fayed. “It now takes 11-12 days instead of seven – a total of around 18 days when you add the time spent at the ports. We do grapes and stonefruit, so we’re particularly affected during the spring and summer months.”

Fayed says he is not sure how long the business can continue sending its products this way. “A seafreight container from Egypt to Felixstowe usually costs $2,800, whereas via Italy it costs $8,500-9,000. This is a lot more. This comes from our profits, as the consumer will always pay the same. We cannot keep doing this indefinitely – a year or two at the most.”

The good news is that the Egyptian government is offering subsidies to fresh produce companies sending product by airfreight. However, many are not willing given the carbon footprint involved, especially for those supplying the UK market, where food miles is a huge issue for retailers.

One such company is Pico Modern Agriculture, which has made switching to seafreight a top priority. “We are the largest shipper of soft fruit via seafreight,” says Pico’s Omar El-Naggar. “It is still one of our priorities to send as much produce as possible by sea. There are many advantages to this. First, there is the environmental factor, since it is important for all companies to try to reduce their carbon footprint. Then there is the cost, as seafreight is the far cheaper mode of transport. But sometimes it is still necessary to send by air, which is why subsidies are useful.”

With the continued pace of change in the Middle East there is still a lot to play for in terms of UK exports but also continuing to secure imports. —