Inaugural Gulfood Green shines spotlight on start-ups with creative solutions for sustainability

The event has attracted new businesses from all over the world to take part in a pitch competition

Gulfood Green is taking place for the first time at Dubai World Trade Centre, and includes the Food for Future Summit. All photos: Antonie Robertson/The National

The Green Shoots programme also includes panel discussions and workshops for startups

The event is taking place in Zabeel Halls 2 and 3

Hundreds of companies from across the world are attending to showcase their sustainability solutions

Fresh produce on display

The Food for Future Summit is hosting numerous talks and panel discussions

Producers and farmers are in attendance

Farmed products from across the world are on display

Dubai's Food Tech Valley has a stand

Bananas from Brazil

Nations have stands to showcase produce from their countries

Many fun mascots roam the halls

Plant-based solutions such as oat milk on display

Attendees enjoying the atmosphere

A company shows off its smart planters

Hydroponic farming company Pure Harvest from the UAE

Plastic alternatives are also being promoted

Gulfood Green 2024 runs for three days

The UAE's inaugural Gulfood Green event might be small in size, but what the start-ups attending could offer has big potential for business and the planet.

The event, which began on Tuesday morning at Dubai World Trade Centre, is a platform for the global food ecosystem and aims to encourage the exchange of ideas on technology, regulations and solutions for achieving sustainability.

Hundreds of exhibitors from all over the world are in attendance, highlighting emerging concepts, from ethical sourcing to green packaging and plant-based meat production, as well as creative agricultural and technological solutions to hot topics such as food waste, food security, water scarcity and climate change.

These are spread across two halls, with a section called Green Shoots dedicated solely to start-up companies. Part of this is a pitch competition – running parallel to the Food for Future Summit on the main stage – with 15 brands competing for a grand prize of $50,000, which is being presented to the winner by Dubai World Trade Centre on Wednesday evening.

Top quality

To apply, companies submitted videos and pitch decks online for a preliminary judging session before the event. Each digital pitch was reviewed by two to three judges, before the final 15 were selected for the live competition in Dubai.

"We had some really innovative and great ideas," said the competition's co-producer Sascha Dutta, founder of Foodpreneurs Collective in Dubai, which is also running workshops and panel discussions throughout the three-day event.

"We've had companies from agritech, plant-based solutions, waste management, we've covered all those bases," she told The National. "There have been some really high-quality pitches. These are very passionate speakers and founders. At this level, they're very good at what they do."

Priscilla Musenge travelled from Zambia to present Entomo Farm, which harnesses the power of black soldier flies to transform organic waste into protein and organic fertilisers for the farming industry.

The farm cultivates its larvae to serve as a feed source for livestock, acting as a more sustainable alternative to water-guzzling soya beans, as well as for the aquaculture and pet food industries. The flies' excrement also serves as an organic fertiliser, closing the loop on waste management.

While Ms Musenge did not make it to the final round, she said the competition offered the perfect platform for her to raise awareness of the company as she looks to scale up.

"Part of our growth strategy is looking at options for research and development," Ms Musenge told The National. "Insect farming is not necessarily new to many places, but the scientific side of it is quite new to the sub-Saharan region.

"We are big on edible insects, but haven't used it in farming, so we are trying to look for a platform and use partnerships for investment to create a research and development hub to be able to perfect our product and give it that endorsement needed for the farmers back home in Zambia, as well as the region."

The conference proved very useful, she added, noting: "It has been a really good eye-opener to see the possibilities in terms of growth."

Meanwhile, the Canadian company MeatGardens offer a new solution to creating lab-grown meat using animal cells combined with plants. Co-founders Ron Klein and Alon Gal claim their process is inexpensive compared with traditional lab-grown meat production technology, and offers a much more sustainable alternative to the animal agriculture industry.

It also results in a meatier, more nutrition-dense and more affordable end product, Mr Klein told The National. "Plant-based substitutes are not there yet," he said. "They need the physical characteristics that are found in the meat, not just for the taste and texture, but also nutritional value. So, we are practically fusing both categories."

More than a competition

Outside of the competition, there are dozens more start-ups vying for attention at the event, as founders and outreach managers hope to raise awareness and secure more interest in their products. From the UAE, there is The Waste Lab, a female-owned company in Dubai that is rescuing the country's food scraps and turning them into soil.

The brand, which has been going for three years, works with corporate clients, including Dubai World Trade Centre, to collect non-edible food scraps and turn them into compost. They also provide data to companies looking to reduce waste and offer educational opportunities around food waste and composting within the community.

Co-founder Ceylan Uren said it was important for them to attend the event as they're in the process of scaling up. "Each of our verticals generates revenue, as it is also important to have financial sustainability as a company. We are now 28 employees and we're helping our team members to have a better job and living conditions."

They are looking for investors and collaborators at the event, including other start-ups with whom they can work together. This includes San Francisco's Replate, a tech-enabled business that aims to reduce food waste and food insecurity by offering digital tools to restaurants and corporates with surplus food to donate meals to non-profits serving vulnerable communities.

It launched in Dubai after Mena region director Hachem Mahfoud attended Expo 2020 Dubai. "I saw a lot of opportunity, so I decided to stay," he told The National. "Food has a social aspect of feeding, but also an environmental aspect in reducing food waste."

Mr Mahfoud said there is still a lot of work to be done in raising awareness of food waste, which is why Gulfood Green is a great new platform. "We get to show our progress and there's nothing stronger than a physical connection, to talk eye-to-eye and explain why this is important. The event is a step forward, but there's always more to do."