UAE companies dominated the Gulfood Innovation Awards 2020. These awards were a major feature of this year’s edition of the show. They attracted over 500 entries across 12 categories.  These F&B accolades celebrate and recognize outstanding breakthroughs across a wide cross-section of brands and products. 

Judged by a panel of industry leaders, categories included Most Innovative Soft Beverage; Most Innovative Hot Beverage; Most Innovative Dairy Product; Most Innovative Halal Food; Most Innovative Baked Product; Most Innovative Organic Product; Most Innovative Condiment or Sauce; Most Innovative Frozen or Chilled Food; Most Innovative Health & Wellness Product; Most Innovative Meat or Poultry Product; Best New Product Development and Best Packaging (Design) Impact.

Winning the award for the ‘Most Innovative Hot Beverage’ was IFFCO, the UAE-based integrated multi food products group, for its Karak Chai Camel Milk. 

Digvijay Sharma, CEO at IFFCO, said: “Our Karak chai has proven very popular and we hope our camel milk variant will have the same success, especially now it’s won a prestigious Gulfood Innovation Award. We believe our product range appeals to local and regional consumers and we look forward to bringing out more innovative products in-line with our regional expansion.”

Another UAE-based power brand, Global Food Industries’ picked up two awards. The firm’s Plant Protein Pea, Quinoa & Kale Burger (beef-free) won ‘Most Innovative Halal Food’, while its Chicken, Quinoa & Kale Burger won ‘Most Innovative Meat or Poultry Product’.

“These awards underline the outstanding efforts of our team over the last five years. Winning two awards highlight that we are on the right track with our product range and that we are responding to the changing needs of modern consumers,” said Jacek Plewa, CEO, Global Food Industries.

Meanwhile, Bidfood Middle East, the region’s leading foodservice distributor of food, beverage and non-food related products, won ‘Most Innovative Frozen or Chilled Food’ for its Haagen-Dazs Barista Line. 

“We are always looking to offer unique flavors and ingredient to our customers, and we are committed to offering innovative products that distinguish us from competitors in a competitive market category,” said Wissam Menkara, Regional Sales Manager – Food Services, Bidfood Middle East.

In addition, the UAE’s New Country Healthcare was another double winner, with its OA Foods Palmini products claiming the ‘Best New Product Development’ and ‘Most Innovative Baked Product’ awards

“Winning two Gulfood Innovation Awards evidences our mission to bring new and healthy products to the UAE and GCC market. We strive to be as innovative as possible and these awards encourage us to believe that the sky is the limit,” said Dr. Nael Al Koudsi, Managing Director, New Country Healthcare. 

Six additional awards were handed out to France’s Eclor for ‘Most Innovative Soft Beverage’; Savencia for ‘Most Innovative Dairy Product’; Estonia’s FS Goods for ‘Most Innovative Organic Product’; the USA’s Bunge for ‘Most Innovative Condiment or Sauce’; Italy’s Andrea Milano for ‘Most Innovative Health & Wellness Product’; and the UAE’s Vendome Tea DMCC for ‘Best Packaging (Design) Impact’.