NNP Raisins at Gulfood 2025.

At the stand

Thirty editions, twenty-four halls.

Gulfood turned thirty in 2025. The organisers counted 5,500 exhibitors from 129 countries and more than 144,000 visitors from 198, across twenty-four halls at the Dubai World Trade Centre. The following year the show needed a second venue.

We were in Za'abeel Hall 24 on Stand Z4-A20, inside Uzbekistan's national pavilion: the export range on the shelves, three dishes of fruit on the counter, the vineyards playing on the screen, and a framed certificate standing where a visitor would see it before they sat down.

Meetings

The Gulf asks about volume first.

Across the five days our team met importers, distributors and wholesalers. A Gulf buyer opens differently from a European one: the specification comes second, and the first question is how much, how often, and starting when.

Thank you to everyone who came to the counter. Gulfood is the busiest week in our year and the least conclusive — nothing is signed in a hall — but almost everything that ships in the second half of the year starts in one of those conversations.