The UAE's food-security strategy is increasingly becoming an industrial-growth strategy. As the country looks to reduce reliance on selected imports, strengthen supply chains and capture more value domestically, food manufacturing is emerging as a key part of the next phase of industrial development. 

The UAE Food Cluster aims to raise the food sector’s contribution to GDP from AED 30 billion to AED 40 billion by 2028, while increasing foreign trade in food from AED 25 billion to AED 40 billion. Around 20,000 additional jobs are also expected to be created, representing employment growth of 18.2 per cent. These targets point to an economy seeking to capture more value across food production, processing and distribution. 

An increase of AED 10 billion in the sector's contribution to GDP will require more than increasing the volume of food produced locally. It will depend on expanding high-value activities including processing, product development, specialised ingredients, packaging and distribution. The opportunity, therefore, is shifting from simply supplying food to developing the industrial capabilities that add value before products reach consumers or export markets. 

Localisation creates a new manufacturing opportunity

One of the clearest signals of this changing approach emerged at Make it in the Emirates 2026, with a policy aimed at enabling AED 2 billion a year in food import substitution through increased domestic production. The initiative is projected to support at least 200 food factories and raise local production capacity by 15 to 30 percent. 

The scale of this ambition also highlights the breadth of the opportunity. Replacing imported products with competitive local alternatives creates demand not only for manufacturing facilities, but for ingredients, processing equipment, automation, quality control, packaging and distribution. 

That makes localisation a commercial opportunity as well as a strategic priority. Growth can span categories including proteins, dairy, beverages, ingredients, packaging and contract manufacturing, while creating additional demand for the industries that support them. 

Ingredient suppliers are already responding to this shift. Khaled Abo El-Nasr, General Manager of Doehler MENA, points to backward integration, from securing raw materials close to source through to contract manufacturing, as a way to strengthen supply security and cost competitiveness. Manali Shah Doshi, Business Director at Fine Organics, similarly sees ingredient suppliers taking on a broader role as innovation partners helping manufacturers respond to changing consumer expectations while building a more resilient food ecosystem. 

Investment is already following the opportunity

The UAE’s policy momentum is being accompanied by private-sector investment. In January 2026, a leading food manufacturing company announced AED 130 million investment in a new production facility at Jebel Ali Free Zone. Positioned as a GCC innovation and international manufacturing hub, the facility has an initial production capacity of up to 40 tonnes per day and is expected to support products including meat and protein, cheese, dairy, premixes, sauces and co-packed solutions for hospitality, aviation and foodservice. 

Meanwhile, a global company announced AED 180 million investment in an integrated manufacturing and logistics hub at Dubai’s National Industries Park. Once fully operational, the facility is expected to add up to 30,000 tonnes of annual food-packaging capacity. 

These projects illustrate how the opportunity extends beyond food production itself. Manufacturing, packaging, processing and logistics are developing alongside one another, making the food sector an ecosystem story rather than just a factory story. 

The technologies behind building an integrated ecosystem

The UAE Food Cluster reflects this broader approach, bringing together local farming, bio-agriculture, agri-tech, advanced agriculture, food processing, trading and stockpiling. 

This matters as modern food manufacturing depends on an ecosystem of suppliers, machinery providers, automation companies, packaging manufacturers, cold-chain specialists and logistics operators. A production facility’s competitiveness is shaped by the efficiency and resilience of this wider network, making these interconnected capabilities critical to the sector’s growth. 

The shift is being reflected across the manufacturing value chain. Vijay Injeti, Head of Sales and Business Development for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa at Intralox, highlights the importance of technologies that allow manufacturers to scale efficiently while maintaining safety, quality and operational standards. Packaging is also becoming more strategic, with Efrahin Avila, Senior Director of Sales Food for South EMEA at Sealed Air, describing it as an active lever for improving food-system performance, while Gamal Ali, Managing Director of ULMA Packaging Middle East, links food security directly to protecting products throughout their journey from production to consumer. 

From local production to regional trade

The domestic market is only a part of the opportunity. The target of increasing food-sector foreign trade from AED 25 billion to AED 40 billion by 2028 suggests that the UAE considers local manufacturing as a potential driver of regional trade as well as import substitution. 

The country’s strategic location and established trade and logistics infrastructure give manufacturers access to markets across the GCC region, wider Middle East, Africa and South Asia. This creates the potential to manufacture, process and package more products locally before distributing them across regional and international markets. 

Global players are already building this regional perspective into their operations. Konstantin Kolesnik, Managing Director of Tetra Pak Arabia Area, says the company anticipates the needs of food and beverage producers and responds with agility across the region, reflecting the growing connection between local manufacturing capacity and regional market access. 

A manufacturing opportunity taking shape

The UAE’s food manufacturing opportunity is increasingly defined by what happens around the factory as much as inside it, from ingredients and processing technologies to packaging, automation and logistics. These capabilities combined will determine how effectively the country can turn food-security ambitions into industrial capacity, investment and regional trade. 

This is where Gulfood Manufacturing 2026 comes into focus. Taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from November 3 to 5 under the theme ‘Powering Food Security Through Manufacturing Innovation,’ the exhibition will showcase advanced processing and packaging, next-generation ingredients, automation, AI, digital manufacturing and supply-chain solutions. With the FoodTech Summit and Innovation Tours adding insights into digital transformation, sustainable manufacturing, food safety and operational excellence, the event will further connect the technologies, partnerships and investment needed to move the UAE’s food sector towards a more integrated, competitive and export-oriented manufacturing base. 

Registration is free for trade professionals. To register and learn more about Gulfood Manufacturing, please visit www.gulfoodmanufacturing.com.