As a growing market with rising demand, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries present key agri-food opportunities. Our Canadian Trade Commissioner expert helps you discover important trends and considerations.
Video transcript
[Upbeat, Middle Eastern music starts.]
[Fade up to a shot of a Middle Eastern city at night. A red bar slides over the image. The title of the video appears on the bar.]
Text on screen: Canadian Agri-Food Trade Commissioners
[The text slides to the left, replaced by new text.]
Text on screen: Market Opportunity Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
[Dissolve to white, then dissolve to a shot of Andrew Maharaj in front of a white background.]
Voice of Andrew Maharaj: The GCC is comprised of six different markets.
[Cut to an animation of the Middle East seen from space.]
United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman.
[Cut to a time lapse of busy highways in Dubai.]
Text on screen: 50 million
Together, the region has about 50 million people...
[Cut to a shot of an enormous crowd of people. The text dissolves into new text.]
Text on screen: 2.5% annual growth
... and it's growing at a rate of 2.5% on average every year.
[Dissolve to white, then dissolve to a shot of a boat passing Dubai at sunset.]
The GDP per capita is amongst the highest in the world.
[The upbeat music stops, replaced by new Middle Eastern music.]
[Cut to a close-up of Andrew Maharaj.]
Text on screen: Andrew Maharaj Trade Commissioner
My name is Andrew Maharaj, and I'm the regional agriculture counsellor for Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, based in Dubai.
[Cut to a shot of Dubai at night.]
[Cut to a shot of a young couple window shopping.]
There's a lot of purchasing power. It's a very young population.
[Cut to a shot of two young Emirati women sitting on a couch taking a selfie.]
Text on screen: Know the Market
Most of the population is their late twenties, early thirties.
[Cut to a shot of an Arabic businessman and a Western expat looking at a tablet.]
They have often, you know, studied abroad, and they have western tastes.
[Dissolve to white, then dissolve to a shot of the Middle East from space, lit by communication lines.]
The six GCC countries import about 80% of their food needs.
[Cut to a time lapse of a busy Dubai marina.]
Going away from this idea of self-sufficiency...
[Cut to an aerial shot of greenhouses in an arid landscape.]
...they're phasing that out because of scarce resources.
[Cut to a shot of a truck driving.]
So that opens up new opportunities for Canadian exports on the primary side.
[The Middle Eastern music switches to more upbeat Middle Eastern music.]
[Cut to a time lapse of Dubai at night.]
Text on screen: Products in Demand
Most of the trade that we do to the Middle East is pulses, canola, and then wheat.
[Cut to a shot of a person scooping chickpeas into a bag.]
[Cut to a shot of a harvester harvesting a canola field.]
[Cut to a shot of wheat blowing in the wind.]
[Cut to a shot of a Middle Eastern couple eating. The woman moves to take food from the man's plate.]
They understand the quality of Canadian primary commodities...
[Cut to a shot of Middle Eastern businesspeople walking through a courtyard.]
...so it's not a market that we need to develop so much.
[Cut to a shot of three businesspeople working with a tablet.]
We just need to be present in servicing the customers that we have.
[Cut to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
We can get a lot of our nice niche products: maple syrup, honeys, fresh fruit like cherries and blueberries, products like beef, for example.
[Cut to a shot of syrup filling a maple-leaf-shaped jar.]
[Cut to a shot of blueberries on a bush.]
[Cut to a shot of beef cooking on a grill.]
We have very good beef in Canada, great production.
[Cut to a shot of a knife and fork cutting a piece of beef on mashed potatoes.]
We need more halal production in beef to satisfy the needs of this market. Halal production is something that's new in Canada.
[Cut to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
We have some halal production, but not nearly enough to satisfy the Muslim world.
[Cut to a shot of a Western businessman and Middle Eastern businessmen talking.]
There's a growing demand there for high quality halal products, and so that's a big opportunity...
[Cut to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
...but they need to be aware of what the regulations are and how to get their products ready for export to that market.
[Cut to a shot rising over a wheat field at sunrise.]
One thing Canada does really, really well is niche, healthy products, and this is a huge trend in the GCC...
[Cut to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
...so a lot of people are turning towards things like gluten free, organic, low calorie...
[Cut to a series of shots of healthy foods -- a cutting board with cheese, chickpeas, oil, herbs and spices; black lentils being poured into a pot with tomatoes and onions; a carrot being dipped into hummus; a shot of yogurt and final a shot of a mother feeding a baby with a spoon.]
...so if we can get some of those types of products, where we do an incredible job producing, we have a huge potential market.
[The Middle Eastern music ends, replaced by upbeat business music.]
[Cut to a shot of a Middle Eastern woman working at a desk.]
Text on screen: Be Prepared
The GCC countries are really working hard to implement regulations that address some very important challenges.
[Cut to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
Things like legitimizing halal...
[Cut to a shot of a busy Arabic marketplace.]
...ensuring product labeling meets the needs of the local market.
[Cut to a shot of a man shopping in a grocery store.]
A lot of companies are not used to Arabic labeling on products, but it's a must for the GCC: production and expiry dates on products as opposed to just “best-before.” So these are adjustments that they need to make for their products.
[Cut to a shot of Middle Eastern businessmen shaking hands.]
They also have to understand the business culture in the GCC.
[Cut to a shot of a Middle Eastern woman using a tablet.]
You can't just do business from Canada. You've got to be in the market.
[Cut to a shot of a Western man greeting two Middle Eastern businessmen.]
Text On Screen: Build Your Relationships.
You've got to build relationships with your importers if you want to be successful.
[Cut to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
Join the mission! There are missions coming into Dubai...
[Cut to a shot of a couple by the water looking at a phone.]
...and it's not just for Dubai, they'll visit other areas in the region.
[Cut to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
It's a great opportunity to come in and do some business meetings, explore the market.
[Cut to a shot of a Middle Eastern spice market.]
We also do promotional events where you can do tabletops and display your products to chefs or importers.
[Cut to a rotating shot of baklava on a plate.]
[The screen dissolves to white, then dissolves to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
We are the source for qualified contacts.
[Cut to a shot of a Western man laughing and talking with Middle Eastern businessmen.]
We make the introductions, and you take the conversation further once we make those introductions.
[Cut to a shot of businesspeople and a function, listening to a woman speak.]
We're there to support with any follow-up, and help support Canadian companies that want to target the market there.
[Cut to a shot of a man slicing up meat in a food truck.]
The companies are very passionate about what they do...
[The camera zooms in on the cook's hands, then the shot cuts to a baker's hands stretching out dough.]
...and I love just learning from them. Learning about what makes their product unique...
[Cut to a shot of Andrew Maharaj.]
...and how they got into making the products that they're making...
[Cut to a shot of a blurry crowd walking through the street. A red bar fades in from the left, containing text.]
Text on screen: tradecommissioner.gc.ca
... and it gives me great gratification to introduce them to new opportunities in the market and see them take those forward into success stories.
[The text on screen changes.]
Text on screen: Contact Us Today
[The red bar slides off to the right. The screen dissolves to white, then dissolves to the Canada work mark.]
Text on screen: (c) Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (2017)
[Business music fades out.]
[Fade to black.]
Visit our Middle East and Africa market intelligence section for reports on this market.
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