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Bakery industry set to boom in the Gulf

At the centre of this industry boom is the 10th Gulf Food, Hotel and Equipment Exhibition and Salon Culinaire being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from February 20th to 23rd, which will provide expansion-minded industry professionals the opportunity to network with international bakery specialists.

The bakery industry in the region has only recently come of age, according to industry watchers. In the span of a few years, an unorganised industry with no major players has transformed into a thriving, professional specialty sector catering to the needs of regional and international clients. The UAE-based Masterbaker Marketing, for example, is considering doubling its production capacity in response to an increased demand for bakery ingredients for use in hotels, industrial bakeries, patisseries, in-store bakeries, coffee shops, catering companies, aircraft catering companies, ship chandlers and re-exporters.

Masterbaker Marketing FZCO, an arm of the Switz Group, operates from Dubai's successful Jebel Ali Free Zone, with marketing and distribution centres in Abu Dhabi, Oman, the Maldives and Qatar. The Switz Group, a multinational company, is an associate of Bridel of France, Seweer Rondo of Switzerland, Ulmar Spatz of Germany and Unilever in the Middle East and Far East. Group operations are spread throughout the Middle East, Far East and Philippines with the total group turnover being upwards of $60 Million. The companies are acknowledged market leaders in bakery products in the Middle East, having manufacturing centres in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines.