UAE food producers struggle with global challenges
29 November 2022
Local food and beverage (F&B) producers in the UAE say the sector is being severely constrained by rising input costs and unprecedented challenges caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The impact of the war, which began in February this year, has reverberated across the globe, creating uncertainty and insecurity in global food supply chains.
The food industry is among the vital focus industrial sectors of the UAE’s Ministry of Industry & Advanced Technology’s (MoIAT) Operation 300bn plan, not only to enhance its contribution to GDP but also to support long-term food security and self-sufficiency by facilitating local production.
Food security strategy
For industry stakeholders gathered at the MEED-Mashreq Manufacturing Business Leaders Forum, the Covid-19 crisis and conflict in Ukraine have only further underlined the importance of pursuing a food security strategy.
“The UAE F&B industry has more than 550 manufacturing units and employs more than 80,000 workers with a value of production of over AED35bn and exports of more than AED15bn,” said Ahmed Bayoumi, CEO of Global Food Industries (GFI) and board member of the UAE Food & Beverage Manufacturers Group.
“The Ministry of Climate Change and the Ministry of Industry are jointly spearheading efforts to increase the domestic supply of food products and to make the UAE one of the most food-secure countries in the world,” explained Bayoumi.
“The two strategies, food security and Operation 300bn, both have many programmes to support the industry. We also really appreciate the new free trade agreements and the building of new trade routes with India, Indonesia and Israel.”
Import dependence
The UAE and other Gulf nations – considered food-secure due to their economic and political stability – have not faced food shortages since the pandemic outbreak. But food security and limiting vulnerability to import disruptions remains a key strategic long-term goal for the UAE government, as it lacks control over its sources.
GCC countries, including the UAE, typically import nearly 85 per cent of their food.
Compounding the situation is the harsh climate, with the expansion of local food production limited due to the scarcity of natural resources such as water and arable land.
According to the World Resources Institute, the Middle East and North Africa is the most water-stressed region globally, with the World Bank forecasting that the region will experience the highest economic losses from climate-related water scarcity compared with other global regions, at about six to 14 per cent of their GDP by 2050.
Conflict stress
Closed-off access to the lower-priced Black Sea grain since the outbreak of the war has induced commodity shortages and exacerbated inflationary pressures for purchasers already struggling with still fragile pandemic-disrupted supply chains, high import costs and spikes in energy costs.
“Because of the Ukraine war, sunflower oil and flour prices are up by almost 60 per cent,” a local food manufacturer said during the forum.
“Additionally, the Indian government has banned wheat exports from India. This has created an increase in commodity prices in the local market. It directly impacts me because almost all my products use wheat. Wheat flour is 60 per cent of my raw material.”
The challenge, he said, is further compounded because commodity suppliers have been demanding advance payments as they capitalise on the shortages.
But in the credit-driven UAE market, manufacturers are still bound by 90 to 120-day payment cycles.
“At the same time, I am restricted from increasing my prices,” the manufacturer said. “It is not healthy for the industry. There must be some intervention from the ministry to address this.”
Almost 99 per cent of food products in the UAE are no longer regulated in terms of pricing. This is due to the dialogue between the Ministry of Economy and the industry – credit where credit is due
Ahmed Bayoumi, Global Food Industries
Countering inflation
Inflation has risen to historic levels in many markets worldwide, significantly impacting consumers and businesses.
In the UAE, the IMF forecasted that inflation will be at 5.2 per cent this year.
One local manufacturer at the forum said businesses have “no other way” to protect their finances and margins than to raise the prices of their goods.
“The government does not like to disturb consumers with price increases, but this is a very big challenge for manufacturers,” he said. “If manufacturers don’t increase prices, they will lose money.”
A 2022 Grant Thornton survey of 5,000 mid-market businesses across 28 countries, including the UAE, revealed that 87 per cent of businesses in the UAE have opted to pass the cost of surging inflation to consumers in a bid to protect their margins by increasing their prices, “at the same level or above our cost increases”.
According to the study, businesses have seen increases of 18 per cent in their energy and utility bills, 17 per cent in raw materials costs and 14 per cent in salaries or staff compensation. Businesses also saw a 16 per cent increase in outgoings related to equipment, as well as bank, interest and taxes.
The UAE government typically caps prices of staple food items to keep inflation in check and ensure shopping remains affordable for families. In April 2022, however, the Ministry of Economy said it was monitoring 300 frequently bought essential food items to identify products whose prices could be raised in line with rising import costs, subject to approvals.
“Almost 99 per cent of food products in the UAE are no longer regulated in terms of pricing,” said GFI’s Bayoumi. “This is due to the dialogue between the Ministry of Economy and the industry – credit where credit is due.
“There are only some basic staples that are regulated, and this was a major breakthrough after almost 20 years of everything being regulated.”
Achieving self-sufficiency
The long-term vision of the UAE’s food security strategy is to achieve self-sufficiency, creating an optimum balance between domestic production and securing food production channels overseas.
Ongoing challenges, however, are impacting the speed with which this vision can be achieved.
“Producers who perhaps enjoy more subsidies or, due to currency fluctuations, can access the UAE market at low cost. This tends to come at the cost of demand for local manufacturers,” said Bayoumi.
The strong dollar, meanwhile, has been a “double-edged sword”.
“On the one side, it helps you with your imports from everywhere in the world. So, imports are cheaper in terms of raw materials or equipment. But, on the other hand, in terms of exports, nations using the Euro, for example, are screaming that they can’t buy our product anymore because they have appreciated by 20 per cent.”
“I think the UAE has to think to have some kind of ownership of lands abroad,” a manufacturer at the forum said. “This might open a big door for the UAE. That will secure our raw materials in terms of availability and prices.”
The UAE is already taking steps in this area, with efforts spearheaded by its investment vehicles.
In 2020, Abu Dhabi’s International Holdings Company (IHC) said it would invest over $225m to develop and cultivate over 100,000 acres of farmland in Sudan to help secure high-quality agricultural output.
Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi holding company ADQ bought a majority stake in Cyprus-headquartered agriculture company Unifrutti. The firm produces, trades and distributes more than 100 varieties of fresh produce, and sells 560,000 tonnes of fresh fruit a year. It has 14,000 hectares of farms across four continents and customers in 50 countries.
ADQ previously acquired a 45 per cent stake in French firm Louis Dreyfus, and has stakes in local companies, including fresh produce and agri-tech group Silal; forage and agribusiness group Al-Dhahra Holding; and food and beverage group Agthia.
Equal opportunities
Bayoumi noted that overall, demand within the UAE is recovering “very strongly” after the pandemic.
“Especially with visitor numbers growing, we see market demand growing, and we anticipate that this growth will continue going forward,” he said.
“But also, competition is intensifying. More players are seeing the Gulf as one of the most attractive markets globally over the next three to five years, more players are coming into the market, and more players are vying for a piece of the cake.”
Medium-sized enterprises are at a further disadvantage when compared to regional giants.
“One of the things being discussed and under study is how medium-sized enterprises can be provided with access to centres of excellence that would pool resources in areas such as research and technology, which an individual entity might not be able to afford otherwise. That would make them more competitive over the long term versus the big players,” he said.
“The concentration of retail power also needs to be addressed. In the past, there were thousands of places to sell your product and hardly pay anything. Now two or three major retailers have 50 to 60 per cent of the market. They impose demands and if you do not comply, you could end up delisted or chucked off shelves.”
By Megha Merani
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Exacerbating the need for increased LNG imports, on 28 February, Israel shut down production from its offshore gas fields due to security concerns, cutting pipeline exports to Egypt.
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Delays expected to $3.3bn Kuwait gas project due to Iran war
11 March 2026
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Significant delays are now expected for state-owned Kuwait Gulf Oil Company's (KGOC's) planned tender for the development of an onshore gas plant next to the Al-Zour refinery, according to industry sources.
The project budget is estimated to be $3.3bn and the last meeting with contractors to discuss the project took place in Kuwait on 10 February.
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Sharakat plan signals next phase of Saudi water expansion
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Sharakat, formerly Saudi Water Partnership Company, released its latest seven-year statement in March, outlining the next phase of the kingdom’s water infrastructure plans.
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Outlook
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Ruwais industrial complex struck by drones
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Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to a fire that has broken out at a facility in Ruwais industrial complex, caused by a drone attack.
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The UAE continues to intercept drones and missiles fired from Iran, as attacks on the Gulf countries continue for a 11th day in the ongoing regional conflict.
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Contractors submit bids for Dorra offshore gas project packages
10 March 2026
Contractors have submitted bids to Al-Khafji Joint Operations (KJO) for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on a project to develop natural gas from the Dorra gas field, located in the waters of the Saudi-Kuwait Neutral Zone.
KJO, which is jointly owned by Saudi Aramco subsidiary Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) subsidiary Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC), has divided the project’s scope of work into four EPC packages – three offshore and one onshore.
Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (L&TEH) has won package one of the Dorra facilities project, which covers the EPC of seven offshore jackets and the laying of intra-field pipelines. The contract awarded by KJO to L&TEH is estimated to be valued at $140m-$150m, MEED reported in October.
Contractors submitted bids for the remaining three packages – offshore packages 2A and 2B and onshore package three by the final deadline of 9 March, according to sources.
Two consortiums of contractors submitted bids for the packages, sources told MEED:
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- Saipem (Italy) / Larsen and Toubro Energy Hydrocarbon (India)
KJO had extended the bid submission deadlines for these packages several times since last year.
The EPC scope of work for package 2A includes Dorra gas field wellhead topsides, flowlines and umbilicals. Package 2B involves the central gathering platform complex, export pipelines and cables. Package three includes the EPC of onshore gas processing facilities.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are pressing ahead with their plan to jointly produce 1 billion cubic feet a day (cf/d) of gas from the Dorra gas field.
The two countries have been producing oil from the Neutral Zone – primarily from the onshore Wafra field and offshore Khafji field – since at least the 1950s. With a growing need to increase natural gas production, they have been working to exploit the Dorra offshore field, understood to be the only gas field in the Neutral Zone.
Discovered in 1965, the Dorra gas field is estimated to hold 20 trillion cubic metres of gas and 310 million barrels of oil.
The Dorra facilities scheme is one of three multibillion-dollar projects launched by subsidiaries of Saudi Aramco and KPC to produce and process gas from the Dorra field that has advanced in the past few months.
AGOC onshore Khafji gas plant
AGOC has set a current bid submission deadline of 22 April for seven EPC packages as part of a project to construct the Khafji gas plant, which will process gas from the Dorra field onshore Saudi Arabia.
MEED previously reported that AGOC issued main tenders for the seven EPC packages in 2025. Contractors were initially set deadlines of 24 October for technical bid submissions and 9 November for the submission of commercial bids, which was then extended by AGOC until 22 December.
The seven EPC packages cover a range of works, including open-art and licensed process facilities, pipelines, industrial support infrastructure, site preparation, overhead transmission lines, power supply systems and main operational and administrative buildings.
France-based Technip Energies has carried out a concept study and front-end engineering and design (feed) work on the entire Dorra gas field development programme.
Progress has been hampered by a geopolitical dispute over ownership of the Dorra gas field. Iran, which refers to the field as Arash, claims it partially extends into Iranian territory and asserts that Tehran should be a stakeholder in its development. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain that the field lies entirely within their jointly administered Neutral Zone – also known as the Divided Zone – and that Iran has no legal basis for its claim.
In February 2024, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reiterated their claim to the Dorra field in a joint statement issued during an official meeting in Riyadh of Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud.
Since that show of strength and unity, projects targeting the production and processing of gas from the Dorra field have gained momentum.
KGOC onshore processing facilities
KGOC has initiated early engagement with contractors for the main EPC tendering process for a planned Dorra onshore gas processing facility, which is to be located in Kuwait.
KGOC is at the feed stage of the project, which is estimated to be valued at up to $3.3bn. The firm is now expected to issue the main EPC tender within the first quarter of this year, MEED recently reported.
The proposed facility will receive gas from a pipeline from the Dorra offshore field, which is being separately developed by KJO. The complex will have the capacity to process up to 632 million cf/d of gas and 88.9 million barrels a day of condensates from the Dorra field.
The facility will be located near the Al-Zour refinery, owned by another KPC subsidiary, Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company.
A 700,000-square-metre plot has been allocated next to the Al-Zour refinery for the gas processing facility and discussions regarding survey work are ongoing. The site could require shoring, backfilling and dewatering.
The onshore gas processing plant will also supply surplus gas to KPC’s upstream business, Kuwait Oil Company, for possible injection into its oil fields.
Additionally, KGOC plans to award licensed technology contracts to US-based Honeywell UOP and Shell subsidiary Shell Catalysts & Technologies for the plant’s acid gas removal unit and sulphur recovery unit, respectively.
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