Gulfood Manufacturing 2026 in Dubai

Gulfood Manufacturing 2026 takes over Dubai World Trade Centre in Dubai on 3–5 November 2026, gathering everything involved in making food and drink under one roof, from ingredients and processing to packaging, supply chain and factory automation. The organisers expect more than 2,500 exhibitors from over 80 countries and more than 80,000 industry professionals, and they bill this edition as the show unveiling the next era of food manufacturing, digital adoption and breakthrough innovation.

Five Sectors at Gulfood Manufacturing in Dubai

Gulfood Manufacturing covers the production side of the food and beverage industry, and it is organised around five sectors: Ingredients, Processing, Packaging, Supply Chain, and Automation & Control. That structure is also how the venue is laid out, which makes it easier to plan a visit around your own part of the industry.

Processing and packaging, the core of the show, spread across Halls 1 to 4, Za’abeel Halls 1 to 3, the Trade Centre Arena and the Sheikh Saeed Halls. The ingredients sector occupies Halls 5 to 9, the Pavilion, Sheikh Maktoum Hall and Sheikh Rashid Hall. Visitors focused on a single sector can stay within one cluster of halls rather than criss-crossing the whole site.

The show is organised by Dubai World Trade Centre and is separate from the main Gulfood exhibition, which covers food and drink products and took place in January 2026. Gulfood Manufacturing’s previous edition ran on 4–6 November 2025 at the same venue and was reported as its largest and most diverse to date, so the 2026 edition builds on a show that has been growing year on year.

New Machines and Launches on the Show Floor

Product launches are a big part of why buyers and engineers come. Among the launches named by the organisers:

• the GEA CompaX compressor and the Krones ErgoBloc L in Hall 1
• Thompson Meat Machinery’s 91000C Cryogenic Mixer Grinder in Hall 2
• Heat and Control’s FastBack Symphony On-Machine Seasoning System and Sidel’s EvoBLOW Laser in Hall 3
• new SIG Terra Full Barrier cartons in Hall 4
• Bunge CBT Gold in Hall 7

For first-time visitors, the expert-led Innovation Tours are a quicker way into a show of this size. They offer a guided route onto the show floor, so you see what experts consider the highlights without having to map the halls yourself.

FoodTech Summit and the Global Leaders Series

The conference programme is as much of a draw as the exhibition. The FoodTech Summit runs across all three days with more than 100 expert voices discussing food security, technology and investment. Speakers listed by the organisers include H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri, H.E. Khalifa Al Hajeri, Paul Polman, John Elkington, Ken Goldberg and Alison Watson, among many others, so the sessions move between government policy, corporate strategy and research.

The Global Leaders Series puts senior figures from across the industry in conversation on stage, and the Industry Excellence Awards 2026 recognise standout work in food and beverage manufacturing during the week.

Three Shows Running Alongside

Gulfood Manufacturing shares Dubai World Trade Centre with three co-located shows, all included in the same week:

• ISM Middle East, for sweets and snacks, in Za’abeel Halls 4 and 5
• Gulf Host, for foodservice and hospitality equipment, in Za’abeel Hall 6
• Private Label Middle East, for private label and contract manufacturing, in Za’abeel Hall 1

For companies whose business spans more than production, such as a manufacturer that also supplies own-brand products to retailers or equipment to hotels, it is worth leaving time for at least one of these.

Hours, Registration and Dubai World Trade Centre

The show opens at 10am each day. It closes at 6pm on 3 and 4 November and an hour earlier, at 5pm, on the final day, 5 November, so plan any last-day meetings for the morning. Entry is for trade visitors who use the Register to Visit option on the official Gulfood Manufacturing website, where the admission policy is also published.

Dubai World Trade Centre sits on Sheikh Zayed Road. During show week the event and its co-located shows use almost the entire venue, from the numbered halls to the Za’abeel Halls, Sheikh Saeed Halls, Sheikh Maktoum Hall, Sheikh Rashid Hall, the Pavilion and the Trade Centre Arena, so checking the floor plan before arriving saves a lot of walking.

Who Should Visit

The show is aimed at professionals across food and beverage manufacturing: producers and processors, packaging and ingredients specialists, automation and supply chain teams, and buyers looking for new suppliers or equipment. Investors and anyone following food security and food technology will find plenty in the FoodTech Summit.

It is a busy week for trade shows in the UAE. Energy professionals can head to ADIPEC in Abu Dhabi, which overlaps with these dates. For more professional events, see our business and networking page. Our guide to things to do in Dubai covers the city after the halls close, and things to do in November lists everything else on this month.