In February 2024, staff from DATCP's International Agribusiness Center traveled to Dubai for the 2024 Gulfood food tradeshow! Along with them were representatives from three Wisconsin companies – Grande Cheese, Chippewa Valley Bean, and Masters Gallery – who exhibited within the Wisconsin pavilion at the show. This year marked the biggest tradeshow in Gulfood's history, with over 5,500 food and beverage companies showcasing more than 150,000 new products from more than 190 countries.
Pictured L-R are Shirley Acedo (DATCP); Charles Wachsmuth (Chippewa Valley Bean), Nadwa Nadine (language interpreter) and Colleen Francis (Maters Gallery) in the
Wisconsin Pavilion at Gulfood.
Pictured L-R are Nicole Muller and Amy Popp, both of Grande Cheese; and Krista Knigge, Administrator of Ribbon cutting to open Gulfood's USA Pavilion, which had 171 exhibitors. Pictured L-R are Valerie Brown, FAS/USDA DATCP's Division of Agricultural Development, at the Wisconsin Pavilion at Gulfood. Regional Agricultural Counselor; Ebraheem Al Samadi, Ambassador from My Food Story; and Consul General Meghan Gregonis.
While in the United Arab Emirates, DATCP staff and the participating companies took tours of local retail food stores, including Union Cooperative, Spinney’s Supermarket, Chroithram’s Supermarket, Carrefour Hypermarket, and LuLu Hypermarket. The group also networked and made business connections at a reception hosted by the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and held meetings with staff from USDA-FAS, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and the U.S. Meat Export Federation on ways to increase exports of their products to the region.
Pictured L-R are Scott Tomes, Bongards; Ruben Rios, Herr Foods; Warren Stoll, Kontos; Sandra Renner, Food Export; Shirley Acedo, DATCP; International Agribusiness Center Economic Development Consultant Shirley Acedo at LuLu
Evan Carlson, Bongards; Colleen Francis, Masters Gallery; Anna Kizirian, IMR Food Export. Hypermarket, one of the retail shops with the USDEC arch and cheese display showcasing USA cheese in the store, including 11 Wisconsin cheeses.
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Crystal Farms, Red Apple, and Organic Valley cheeses for sale at LuLu Hypermarket in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.