UAE urged to prioritise local food as global costs rise

UAE food industry leaders want retailers to give stronger backing to local produce and are seeking government support to help Emirati brands expand overseas, as the Iran war disrupts supply chains and threatens to push food prices higher.

Saleh Al Lootah, chairman of the manufacturers’ association the UAE Food Cluster, said Emirati products should receive advantages over imports and that retailers should be incentivised to promote local brands.

He said countries such as Turkey invest heavily in marketing and trade relationships to secure shelf space for their products in foreign markets, including the UAE, Australia and the US.

“The UAE has always kept its doors open to imported products, but when we go abroad, those doors are often closed,” Lootah told AGBI in a video interview at the Make it in the Emirates forum in Abu Dhabi.

“Now we need to leverage our soft power and partnerships to ensure fair treatment,” he said.

The UAE imports about 90 percent of its food. While full self-sufficiency is unrealistic, authorities aim to reduce dependence on imports by signing comprehensive economic partnership agreements (Cepa).

Fahad Al Gergawi, undersecretary at the ministry of foreign trade, said the UAE’s 36 Cepas are designed to help domestic producers expand internationally as well as serve local demand.

He said that Cepa agreements have generated an additional $140 billion in trade for the UAE, which signed its first Cepa with India in February 2022.

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The UAE has access to strategic food reserves under Federal Law 3, introduced after the Covid-19 pandemic. There are also plans to activate strategic corridors between the UAE and central Asia, India and Turkey to ensure supplies are uninterrupted, Lootah said.

But the closure of the Strait of Hormuz for the past 12 weeks has disrupted fertiliser shipments and raised input costs for global producers.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company CEO Sultan Al Jaber, also present at the Make it in the Emirates forum, warned that the closure would have severe global consequences.

“Supplies stop. Costs rise. Global inflation rises. Production chains are disrupted. Economic security cannot be imported – it must be built and protected,” he said.

Lootah said that food prices in the UAE are yet to rise but officials expect higher global costs to affect the region.

“There will be price increases,” he said, “but the government is already taking steps to limit them and ensure [vendors] do not [exploit] the situation.”