A forum for the regional beverage industry, the Congress provided a complete overview of the market and latest trends in the Middle East and around the world, as well as time for informal contact and discussion.
This year’s theme was ‘Reaching new heights’, and focused on the significant growth potential for the region. The programme covered market opportunities, industry leadership and innovation as well as providing insights into the latest market findings and consumer perspectives.
See images from BevME in our special Flickr gallery.
The first day began with a plant tour to the Nestlé Waters site, located in the Jebel Ali area of Dubai.
Nestlé Waters is the number one bottled water company worldwide. It commenced operations in the United Arab Emirates in 2003 and recently completed a new facility in Jebel Ali to meet growing demand for the company’s products and services. The factory employs more than 300 people and produces over 100m litres of Nestlé Pure Life each year.
The Congress opened with two briefing workshops. The first was my own workshop on ‘Latest beverage innovations from around the world’, and the second was ‘What makes good design great’ by Simon Black, group strategy partner of Design Bridge.
There then followed a panel discussion on ‘Ingredients and packaging innovation with tangible benefits’, featuring:
The second day began with a regional market overview featuring:
A session on industry leadership began with the keynote address ‘Investing in the region’, given by Fausto Tazzi, marketing director – Asia, Oceania and Africa for Nestlé Waters Management & Technology Dubai, UAE.
This was followed by Abdullah Alsheik Alrekin, plant manager of Al Rawabi Dairy Company, UAE, who looked at ‘Dairy drinks for healthy nutrition’, and Habiba Al Marashi, chair of Emirates Environmential Group, who discussed ‘Latest thinking on Corporate Social Responsibility’.
The afternoon began with a series of innovation case studies. These included:
Closing the Congress was a session on consumer perpectives. This included ‘Trends in the Middle East: Focus on the Arab Woman’ by Anjan Lahiri, senior group account director for TNS Middle East and Africa, and a panel discussion called ‘Connecting with consumers’.
Bill Bruce is group editorial director of FoodBev Media. You can contact him here
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024