Middle East Organic and Natural Products Expo Dubai opened at Dubai World Trade Center from 15 December and runs until 17 December 2020. 

The Dubai expo has served as a platform for organic products to get launched into the Middle Eastern market for 18 years. 

Exhibitors this year have come from 10 countries, including a debut from Israel. Other top organic product producing countries with a presence include the USA, Russia, Croatia and Macedonia. 

The December expo also features the Farmers Souq – an initiative to support local organic farms in Dubai. 

As a reflection of the times and trends, the range of products on display include disinfecting and sanitisation products, organic dates, vegan products, clean beauty skincare and edible dietary strips. 

The annual Traditional Complementary Alternative Medicine (TCAM) conference is held during the expo with the focus on gut health this year. 

HE Dr Amin Hussain Al Amiri, Asst. Undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing, Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) UAE, inaugurated the TCAM conference and said: “This is one of the few in-person events that I have attended in 2020… The conference has boldly presented the scientific and positive message of healthy living through this event.” 

The European Union is a major sponsor of the event under its ‘Enjoy it’s from Europe’ campaign.

The organisers have also built in some new opportunities for their exhibitors prior to the expo this year, both, online and offline. The launch of Digital Trade Week platform in May earlier this year connected over 40,000 buyers and suppliers through online initiatives and resulted in 4,356 product-specific enquiries and 2,228 requests for quotes to the participating exhibitors. 

“We have witnessed over 120% increase in online transactions on arabianorganics.com,” said the wholesale e-commerce portal’s exhibition director Shinu Pillai. 

“The pandemic indeed challenged us but we are delighted to be one among the handful in-person events not just in the Middle East but around the world. The organic industry has seen major growth during the pandemic, thanks to the shift in consumer demand towards a healthy life and we are here to support and facilitate this growth,” Pillai added.

-organicandnatural.com