The largest ever contingent of Food and Beverage exporting companies from Sri Lanka participated in the 22nd edition of Gulfood 2017 trade exhibition which is considered as the world’s biggest Food and Drink event held annually.

It was held at Dubai World Trade Centre in UAE from 26th February to 2nd March daily. The opportunity was effectively utilized for the promotion of Ceylon Tea and food related exports from Sri Lanka to the UAE and Gulf region as well as other global markets.

This year, twenty-three Sri Lankan companies participated in the exhibition displaying their products under the national pavilion of “Export Development Board of Sri Lanka”. The above companies consisted of 13 food related exporters and 10 tea exporting companies. Further, two other companies also participated in the exhibition as observers through the Export Development Board of Sri Lanka.

Moreover, nineteen (19) tea exporting companies from Sri Lanka participated at the exhibition under the national pavilion banner of “Sri Lanka Tea Board”. On top of that, there was another large number of leading individual Sri Lankan tea exporting companies which also took part in the Exhibition. A total of 45 tea companies from Sri Lanka participated as exhibitors which are considered as an all-time record for any location in the world.

Over 5000 exhibitors from more than 120 countries participated in the Gulfood 2017. More than 95,000 business customers representing various food sectors visited the exhibition which was specifically targeted at the global business community.

The Sri Lanka’s participation at the exhibition was successful in providing opportunities for the local companies participated to secure several million US dollars worth of direct orders at the site itself, whilst also establishing and consolidating a large number of business contacts between the Sri Lankan and the UAE companies. In addition further business order were secured with GCC and the other countries in the world, paving the way for enhancing Sri Lanka’s overall exports to the world.

At the inauguration of the Exhibition, the Halal Accreditation Council (HAC) of Sri Lanka received the prestigious GSO 2055-2/2015 accreditation award from GCC Accreditation Center.

The Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Dubai and Northern Emirates coordinated Sri Lanka’s participation at the Gulf Food 2017 in association with Sri Lanka Export Development Board and Sri Lanka Tea Board.