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UAE: Residents prefer healthy food with over 1 million tonnes of vegetables sold last year
According to figures, the food retail industry in the country is poised to reach $1.5 billion shortly
- PUBLISHED: Tue 18 Feb 2025, 12:48 PM
The retail sales of fresh food have outpaced packaged food in the UAE which saw over 1 million tonnes of vegetables being sold in 2024. Over 536,000 tonnes of meat was sold, and 514,000 tonnes of fruits were bought around the country. The figures were revealed by Dubai Chambers during a Gulfood business briefing for delegates from all over the world.
“Because Dubai is a culinary destination like no other, we are able to have a wider range of fresh food experience and products from all over the world, whether it's Beluga caviar or Maine lobster or Kobe beef from Japan,” said Omar Khan, from the research and data team of Dubai Chambers. “There is a strong and healthy diversity in terms of the food. The big part of it is being consumed in retail outlets.”
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Other figures showed that 293,000 tonnes of pulses 242,000 tonnes of fish and seafood and 163 tonnes of sugar and sweeteners were also sold last year.
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Growing food retail market
According to the figures, the food retail industry in the UAE is poised to reach $1.5 billion shortly. “The retail e-commerce market was very small, but was growing very fast and Covid accelerated it,” said Omar. “In terms of logistics, it's very interesting. Even if you have a yacht today in Dubai Marina, you have a Carrefour boat that would come to you. So, your imagination is not limited in Dubai.”
He added that online food ordering services have also seen a strong growth. “Companies like Talabat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Careem and so on have seen growth initially at 13.3 percent and then settling at about still 7 percent,” he said. “So, it's a few handful of players, but it's getting more competitive and getting more diverse offerings.”
Number of restaurants
The number of restaurants in Dubai stood at just over 9,400 in 2023, marking a year-on-year growth of over 4 percent in some categories. The number of Asian restaurants were the highest with over 3,700 outlets followed by 2,300 Middle Eastern cuisine restaurants and over 800 North American outlets.
“For the size of the city, we have a very diverse number of restaurants and outlets and it's very competitive,” he said. “But they still keep coming because Dubai is a big showcase for brands and the food services and food technology is something that's been growing in importance.”
He also shared how the population in Dubai — of both tourists and residents — was burgeoning. “The number of tourists that we're welcoming for business and pleasure stood at 18.7 million last year,” he said. “If you look at the population of Dubai, it's just over 3.5 million. So if you look at the ratio, every resident of Dubai is serving or interacting with six tourists on average.”
