As the popularity and availability of healthy, organic and free-from food brands continues to surge across the UAE, the Gulf holds tremendous growth opportunities for responsible and innovative suppliers, according to two of the UAE’s leading health and wellness distributors.

With health and wellness food sales in the UAE surpassing the USD 1.25 billion mark, according to the Gulfood Global Industry Report 2018, naturally healthy, organic and free-from foods are all showing strong double-digit growth as demand climbs across consumer demographics.

The growth is evident both in the swell of health-conscious product suppliers among the 5,000 companies participating at this week’s Gulfood, the world’s largest annual food and beverage trade show, as well as the recent financial results of UAE suppliers at contrasting ends of the health and wellness foods industry spectrum.

The fiscal fortunes of New Country Healthcare LLC (NCH), which pioneered healthy food imports to the UAE nearly two decades ago and has achieved growth rates of 35 per cent CAGR over the last five years, and The Goods Collective & Co, an award-winning start-up which has reported a 250 per cent year-on-year turnover rise since entering the market two years ago, highlight the stiffness of competition.

“We were the UAE’s first organic food importer, almost 15 years ago,” said Dr. Nael Al Koudsi, Managing Director, NCH. “Supermarkets shelves didn’t have separate organic categories at that time, but supermarkets now have healthy sections and pharmacies are also driving growth. There’s still a lot of work to do, but competition is healthy and everywhere.”

The Goods Collective & Co, founded in 2015 by qualified pharmacist and healthy foods entrepreneur, Davina Shah, is among the competition.

“I spent six months researching before we launched and saw huge market potential – we knew the UAE would catch the healthy eating bug that was in vogue in the West,” said Shah. “We started with the Planet Organic brand, entering the market with 40-50 SKUs in eight different categories. We focused on healthy and organic shops, organic supermarkets and a few restaurants.”

The Planet Organic line is now The Goods Collective & Co’s best-selling brand following a deal to place Paleo Granola Bars across the GCC network of coffee chain giant, Starbucks - a feat Shah attributes to a Gulfood 2016 Award for Best Organic Product, just two months after launch.

“We now have six brands under exclusive licensing agreements and have started sourcing bulk ingredients, which we thought we’d never do, to supply foodservice outlets such as juice bars and coffee chains. That says a lot – distributors can innovate but the capacity to find those ins with major retailers are driven by consumers shaping the market.”

Demand aside, education is vital for consumers to confront the spiralling authenticity dilemma over self-claimed ‘healthy’ products’ contents, adds Al Koudsi.

“Customers do not always have the full information, so education must be passed on. Labels and packaging might say organic or sugar-free but they’re packed with ingredients you can’t pronounce. We utilise scientists, pharmacists and two full-time nutritionists to filter hundreds of samples discovered on sourcing missions, discounting products with unhealthy ingredients.

“I worry over consumers’ ability to do the same. While consumer savviness is increasing, misleading labelling is a hinderance – a product can say ‘sugar-free’ but sugar is replaced with a harmful chemical sweetener. The healthy foods industry is a train and everyone wants to ride it but you should know the route before buying a ticket.”

In such a competitive environment, Al Koudsi claims there is plenty of scope for players of all size to thrive.

“There’s opportunity and value across the market,” says Al Koudsi. “Producers going direct to market find it hard to reach end customers because distribution and liability are challenging. It’s difficult for producers to send single pallets to single markets, so NCH provides a distribution safe-haven into emerging GCC markets. On the other hand, retailers know we, as partners, complete their portfolios via our access to the latest trends and brands.”

Inevitably, as suppliers and distributors work to individual budgets and objectives, the end game for every firm across the health and wellness sphere is a universal desire to improve societal health.

“Our immediate priority is regional expansion and we hope Gulfood results in a Saudi distributor to open new sales channels and help spread the healthy foods movement,” says Shah.

Al Koudsi, meanwhile, believes UAE authorities’ commitment to national health initiatives must continue. “By 2021, the UAE Government wants everyone in the country to have access to healthy food products. We’re aiding that mandate through various regional distribution agreements. But in our business, it’s healthy to stay ahead of the pack.”

For more information on the health and wellness foods at Gulfood 2018, the world’s largest annual food and beverage trade event and the first major international food industry trade show of the year, visit www.gulfood.com.

Gulfood is open strictly to business and trade visitors. The show is open 11am-7pm from February 18 - 21 and 11am-5pm on February 22. On-site entry fee for visitors is AED400 (USD108).

© Press Release 2018