Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation

THURSDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 2020, KUALA LUMPUR: Sales worth RM566 million of food and beverages were generated by Malaysian companies that participated in the F&B trade fair, Gulfood in Dubai, recently.

The event which was held at Dubai World Trade Centre from 16 – 20 February 2020 saw the participation of 103 Malaysian exporters through a country pavilion coordinated by the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE). This was MATRADE’s 16th participation in the 25th edition of Gulfood, one of the world’s largest F&B trade fairs which attracted more than 5,000 exhibitors and 115 country pavilions.

Among the products showcased by the Malaysian companies were coffee, tea & cocoa, ‘ready-to-eat’ meals, beverages, confectioneries, cooking oil, frozen food, sauce & paste, ingredients and functional foods. During the event, Malaysian brands were exposed to over 80,000 trade visitors from around 150 countries. Throughout the 5-day exhibition, Malaysian companies managed to meet and network with importers, distributors and procurement centres mainly from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, South Asia and Europe.

At the Malaysia Pavilion, there were also exhibitors coordinated by other government agencies notably the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) as well as the Department of Industrial Development and Research (DIDR), Sabah.

According to Mr. Omar Mohd Salleh, the Trade Commissioner of MATRADE Dubai, “Malaysian products especially food & beverages are very well-accepted in the region due to its high-quality and globally accepted halal standards. We have been busy providing our facilitation to connect Malaysian exporters with serious foreign buyers. We hope that through active engagements at the Gulfood, the exports of Malaysian food and beverage products to this region will increase”.

One of the exhibitors, Zhafou Trading Sdn. Bhd. which marketed bottled bird’s nest products was overwhelmed by the response it received at the event. “This was our first participation in Gulfood and we are very pleased with the outcome. We received over 100 quality enquiriesfrom foreign companies who were interested in our products. We strongly believe that this will boost our export sales in this region,” said Datin Fouziah Gous, founder of Zhafou Trading Sdn. Bhd.

Apart from this, two products from Dr Aishah Solution Sdn. Bhd. (DAS) were shortlisted as finalists for the Gulfood 2020 Awards under the “Most Innovative Halal Food” category.According to the founder of DAS, Dr. Aishah Tul Radziah, this recognition showed the capability of Malaysia in producing innovative halal products as well as to scale up the business to meet the growing demand of the industry.

“We have been participating in many food trade fairs overseas. Gulfood 2020 was one of the great platforms for us to network and collaborate with potential foreign distributors especially in the Middle East. With the assistance from MATRADE Dubai, we also managed to meet up with foreign companies who expressed interest to bring our products to their countries”, said Dr. Aishah.

In 2019, Malaysia’s exports of processed food and beverages to the MENA region increased by 20 per cent to reach RM1.9 billion. The UAE was Malaysia’s largest export destination in the region with a 27.5 per cent market share.

Malaysian companies keen to know more about the Middle East region are urged to contact MATRADE trade offices in Dubai and Jeddah via email at or any of MATRADE’s social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter,Instagram & LinkedIn).