Culinary Future Of UAE: Plant-based Meat, Non-alcoholic Drinks And Bamboo Packaging!

The five upcoming trends in the UAE market to overpower in the next couple of years. 

According to the experts at the 29th edition of Gulfood, the future of the food will be quite distinct, including plant-based meat, non-alcoholic drinks, flavours of chilli crisp and packaging made of bamboo. In his keynote speech at the conference, Daniel Levine, a renowned trends expert and director of the Avant-Guide Institute, identified several food industry trends that reflect global events. "We see what is happening in the food industry is impacted by everything that is happening around the world," he said. "Trends are what is in the environment right now. It is not that consumers are looking for different trends, they want the same trend for every part of their life. The food they eat, the cars they drive, the technology they use are all impacting each other."

Iconic food traders, futurists, and leaders gathered in Dubai for the five-day event on Monday. The event is one of the most prominent in the world. The following five culinary trends will overpower the market in the coming years.

Vegan meat

Plant-based meat has exploded in popularity in the region, with some brands producing plant-based shawarma flesh. Jean Ordureau, chef at the French firm Linck, has sold plant-based meat in the UAE for twelve years. "We started small but recently, we tied up with a local company to ship in bulk to the UAE and package the products here,” he said. “The demand has been going up a lot in the country and region. It stems from people being conscious of the environment and what they eat.”

Alcohol-free

Alcohol-free beverages have gained worldwide popularity, reflected in the sales figures of a local company, Drink Dry. "Our revenue for the first two months of 2024, from January to the end of February, is forecast to be five times that of last year's revenue," said Erika Blazeviciute Doyle, founder of the company. The best sellers were the zero alcohol version of brands like Corona Cero and Peroni Nastro Azzurro. 

Green packaging

It's easy to recycle green packaging, so more customers are looking for green packaging, said Levine. "There are several companies that are manufacturing packaging that can be recycled along with paper," he said. "This makes it easier for consumers when separating their waste". Ahmed Yahya, from the Agthia company that sells Al Ain water, said, "In the UAE, more corporations were willing to spend 30 per cent extra on their bamboo-packaged water as opposed to the usual plastic bottles."

Transparency will be familiar.

More businesses are being genuine and honest about their operations and practices in the era of social media, from restaurants that publish the names of those in the kitchen to canned fish companies that enable customers to trace their catch. Levine gave the example of the local restaurant Boca. "The restaurant shares their carbon footprint report publicly, which shows people what steps they have taken to reduce their footprint," he said. "This gives their clients a certain level of belief in them."

New flavours and tastes are emerging.

Levine suggests that consumers were becoming inclined to novel flavour profiles and tastes. He gave the example of hydroponically grown leaves. "They are crisper, newer, cleaner and fresher," he said. "That is because they are locally grown, and more people are liking that texture because these leaves don't travel half the world to get to their plate." Additionally, he disclosed the most recent flavour characteristic that has swept the globe: chilli crisp. Numerous industry leaders are capitalizing on this trend by introducing unique dishes, ranging from chips to pizza.

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