Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | April 12, 2023: Saudi Arabia will fast-track its ambitions to become the undisputed food trade and hospitality capital of the Middle East & North Africa with the launch later this year of InFlavour – a ground-breaking new food sector platform created by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Environment, Water & Agriculture (MEWA) and Tahaluf, the entity behind the country’s highly successful LEAP technology exhibition.

 

As Saudi Arabia embraces a multi-trillion-dollar national development drive that is heavily reliant on leveraging its booming tourism and hospitality sectors, InFlavour will serve as a gateway for local, regional, and global food manufacturers to reach industry buyers and consumers across the most populous country in the Arabian Gulf, as well as footprint growth markets in Africa, Asia, and Europe. 

 

In line with its purpose to power the Kingdom’s place at the top table of the international hospitality industry, InFlavour will also spotlight major Saudi Arabian infrastructure projects poised to elevate the country’s strategic potential to transform the way food is grown, transported, and traded across increasingly complex and competitive international supply chains. 

 

In addition to an expansive network of the world’s largest food and beverage producers, distributors, and traders displaying products on the show floor, InFlavour will also welcome a Michelin star-studded menu of celebrity chefs, and trend-setting culinary innovators in a multi-track conference programme from October 29-31 at the Riyadh Exhibition and Convention Centre, Malham, Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Arabian General Authority for Investment (SAGIA) has conservatively forecast that the Kingdom’s food service sector will grow six per cent annually over the next five years, while the independent market intelligence provider Fortune Business Insights anticipates the sector will expand by 11.5 per cent annually to be worth US$30.47 billion by 2029.

 

MAIN COURSE! With Chefs Marco Pierre White, Manal Alalem, and Yasser Jad 

Influential UK restaurateur Marco Pierre White will lead a power cast of food and hospitality creatives on the MAIN COURSE stage. The first British chef to be awarded three Michelin stars, White will deliver a keynote address to inspire a new wave of Saudi-based restaurant entrepreneurs and food creators. The “Godfather of Modern-Day Cooking” will be joined at the two-day event by fellow keynote speakers and TV celebrity chefs Manal Alalem and Yasser Jad. 

Dubbed the ‘Queen of Arab cuisine and culinary arts’ Alalem, a best-selling cookbook author and host of 'Manal Al-Alem Kitchen', also encourages female involvement in the culinary industry through her Manal Club, a network of 6,000 women from across the Arab World, while Jad is President of the Saudi Arabian Chef Association (SARCA), and recurring judge on MBC’s popular programme, Top Chefs.

 

“InFlavour is the only food services and hospitality event in Saudi Arabia that enjoys top-level government support, making it a must-attend exhibition for global food and beverage companies looking to connect directly with local buyers and grow their business in the Kingdom,” said Michael Champion, CEO of Tahaluf. “Based on exhibitor and participant interest, the inaugural InFlavour is poised to be one of the region’s largest events of its type. Our aim is to produce a content-rich event that will change the food and hospitality landscape not only in the Kingdom, but across the region and the wider world.”   

Also doing his part in transforming and advancing sustainable food systems, while advocating for a robust private sector in the Middle East, HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, founder and Chief Executive Officer of KBW Ventures will join the conference headliners on the Main Course.

 

SIDE DISH Gamechangers: Where Tech, Art, Business, Hospitality and Food Converge

The SIDE DISH stage at InFlavour is where technology, artistry, business, hospitality, and food converge for a futuristic look at where the food service and hospitality sectors are heading, with 12 industry transformers sharing their views on where they believe the industry is heading in Saudi Arabia and beyond. 

The game-changing speaker line-up includes Sujeet Raju, Varun Inamdar, Nick Cooney, and a host of other culinary pioneers, convention-breaking chefs, and food entrepreneurs. Raju is co-founder and creative head of OneRare.io, which is taking the global food and beverage industry to the blockchain by way of the world's first Food Metaverse. Inamdar is an award-winning independent chef who is a YouTube sensation when not working for Middle East royalty or cooking for Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy. Cooney is author of Veganomics and Managing Partner at Lever VC, the American venture capitalist firm that invests in early-stage startups.

The show will also host global leaders from some of the world’s most recognisable consumer brands, including Andrew Murphy, the COO of John Lewis & Waitrose, Didier Souillat, Time Out Market’s Co-CEO, and Sky Kurtz, Founder and CEO of Pure Harvest.

 

“These dynamic personalities are involved across the food services and hospitality ecosystem, as well as being among the driving forces behind sector-wide transformation,” added Champion. “They will provide InFlavour attendees valuable insights into the industry’s future, the technology that will help get us there, and some of the global trends we can expect as the focus turns increasingly towards sustainability, changing consumer patterns, and climate change responsibilities.”