Online F&B sales in UAE to reach $619 million by 2025, Dubai Chamber analysis reveals
Online sales within the UAE’s food and beverage market surged 255 percent year-over-year in 2020 to reach $412 million, according to new analysis on trade opportunities in UAE F&B market in the post-Covid era released by Dubai Chamber of Commerce at Gulfood. The analysis predicted the value of online food and beverage sales in the country to reach $619 million by 2025 and record a compound annual growth (CAGR) of 8.5 percent over the 2020-2025 period.
In his welcome address during the Gulfood Breakfast Briefing event, Hassan Al Hashemi, Vice President of International Relations at Dubai Chamber, described Dubai as a leading example of a city that has leveraged technology and global partnerships to enhance food security to navigate challenges during Covid-19. Al-Hashemi identified the Covid-led digital transformation as a key factor driving the exponential growth in F&B e-commerce sales last year, adding that Dubai’s advanced technology infrastructure, world-class logistics facilities, high-Internet penetration rate and high disposable income among consumers are also key elements that supported the upward trend.
Dr Nizami Imamverdiyev, Economic Researcher - Economic Research & Business Development Dubai Chamber, revealed that the UAE recorded 6 percent growth in sales of fresh food products in the UAE in 2020, which reached $7.9 billion and recorded 4 percent growth in sales of canned food products during the same year. Imamverdiyev’s presentation at Gulfood also identified several high-potential food product categories where the UAE can expand trade with other markets, including grains, vegetables and fruits, vertical crops, healthy and halal food products.
India has been identified as the Dubai’s top food trade partner in 2020, with food products imported from the Asian country accounting for 19 percent of all food imports, followed by New Zealand (13 percent), Pakistan (9 percent), the USA, Egypt and Canada (4 percent).
