The inauguration of the Lulu Australian Food Festival 2013 will take place on the 18th April at 10am at the Lulu Hypermarket, Wahda Mall in Abu Dhabi. The Food Festival comes as part of the Australia Unlimited UAE 2013, a series of seminars and activities promoting closer bilateral trade, investment, and tourism and education links.
H.E. the Australian Ambassador, Mr Pablo Kang, will be launching the Australian food festival 2013, which will run from the 18th until the 21st April. This will feature Australian grocery, meat, dairy, deli, frozen foods, fish and bakery, as well as Australian foods served on the hot food counters.
With food imports currently valued at AS$642 million, the UAE is Australia’s largest trading partner in the region. Food imports mainly focus on Australian meat, with meat trade figures alone worth AS$368 million.
Halal-certified food is also of growing importance to trade between the UAE and Australia, leading to the launch of specialized halal-certification bodies in Australia. These specialised governing bodies have been created to monitor, supervise and certify all products imported to the Middle East. Australian halal exports are estimated at around AS$4 billion of total agricultural exports of around AS$35 billion according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
His Excellency Pablo Kang, Australian Ambassador to the UAE, said, “I’m delighted to see such a strong growth for the Australian food industry in the UAE and would like to thank the Lulu Group, in particular Mr Yusuff Ali, for highlighting Australian foods in their stores. Australia’s food and beverages sector spans a diverse range of capabilities, from the supply of raw ingredients, to food processing to retail sales to consumers. Australia’s climate supports a rich diversity of products, and I’m confident the Australian Food Festival will be very popular with UAE residents and businesses who wish to explore Australian foods, and also with Australian expats living here who will be pleasantly surprised by the variety of Australian foods and products that are available here in the UAE. ”