RICHMOND, Va. — The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Office of International Marketing is supporting the exhibition of two Virginia companies at the largest annual food and beverage trade show in the world. For the first time, De Lune Corp and Landcrafted Foods will exhibit their products at Gulfood 2018 at the Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Feb. 18-22.
“This is an important growth opportunity for these two innovative Virginia agribusinesses and I am thrilled to utilize our Virginia international agricultural trade office in the Middle East to assist them with their efforts at Gulfood,” said VDACS Acting Commissioner Charles Green.
De Lune Corp, based in Alexandria, Va., offers a wide range of high quality agriculture and food products for export including eggs and poultry, pulses, grains and oilseeds, fresh fruits and vegetables, and conventional and organic animal feed blends. During Gulfood, De Lune Corp will also be launching Mr. Pod’s, an exclusive retail brand of packaged pulses and edible oils, into the Middle East market.
Landcrafted Foods manufactures meat snacks made from grass-fed cattle raised on their own farms. In 2017, the company completed construction and opened its smokehouse and production facility in Independence, Va., and aims to be the leading national brand of grass-fed meat snacks that both raises cattle and manufactures its own products.
“I am interested to see if Middle Eastern consumers are like American consumers in their growing demand for sustainably raised products like ours,” said Landcrafted Foods Managing Partner Gary Mitchell. “We think this is a great market for our 100 percent grass-fed beef sticks, and we’re excited to showcase the product at Gulfood.”
The United Arab Emirates and neighboring countries that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council import nearly 90 percent of their food and feed needs, including raw materials for further processing. Gulfood is the premier event in the region for showcasing new food and beverage products and connecting suppliers with buyers and distributors.
U.S. exhibitors at Gulfood 2017 reported a total of $85.5 million in on-site sales and projected $722 million over the next 12 months as a result of their participation in the event. Gulfood 2018 will feature more than 5,000 exhibitors in 120 national pavilions. For more information on Gulfood 2018, visit www.gulfood.com and follow the show’s social media hashtag #Gulfood.
— Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services