Expo 2020 Dubai today launched a search for producers of authentic Emirati and regional products including dates, Arabian coffee and sweets, chocolate and spices, which will form part of a warm, mouth-watering welcome offered to Expo’s millions of visitors from around the world.

This is the second of up to 40 licensed product categories put out to tender by Expo following last month's campaign in search of souvenir manufacturers. Licensed food products will be sold at selected outlets across the UAE, including dedicated Expo retail stores that are expected to open in 2018, as well as the Expo 2020 Dubai site.

With the Dubai Food Festival kicking off later this week, Najeeb Al-Ali, Executive Director of Bureau Expo 2020 Dubai, said that he hopes the UAE-based food producers will be inspired to compete for the chance to benefit from Expo’s reach. "We want to work with producers to create a range of products that authentically reflect our heritage and the multinational diversity of the modern UAE. We have an incredible, vibrant food scene that combines traditional Arabian products like qahwa, dates and spices, with international influences, and we want to share that with Expo 2020 Dubai visitors," he said.

"Our ambition is for the Expo opportunity to support the development of home-grown food brands. I hope that UAE-based SMEs and food-producers will harness their creativity and innovation to serve up high quality traditional and home-made treats that will appeal to the millions who visit both before and during the World Expo. We hope there will be something to appeal to the taste buds of everyone," Mr. Al-Ali added.

The tendering process to become a licensed-food producer at Expo 2020 is fully online and open to businesses of any size from anywhere in the world. The initial stage for companies to register their interest closes on 9th March 2017. A team from Expo 2020 Dubai will also be present at Gulfoods 2017, which kicks off on 26th February.

Anita Chandler, Director of Licensing and Merchandising at Expo 2020 Dubai, said that she relished working with licensees to develop innovative food concepts highlighting the skills of local producers, adding, "I’m really looking forward to finding high quality products and distinctive flavours of the UAE and the region. We’re going to be welcoming millions of people from across the world in 2020, and I want them all to be able to take home something different, that leaves them with a lasting taste of the UAE."