Expo 2020 Dubai’s highly successful BusinessConnect F&B session has marked the first step on the journey to Expo for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the food and beverage sector.
The session, which saw more than 100 SMEs take part, outlined the food and beverage pathway and timeline including encouraging them to sign up to the Expo 2020 Dubai e-Sourcing portal so they can keep track of all the current and upcoming procurement opportunities.
These opportunities include taking a share of an estimated AED 2 billion in onsite food and beverage sales generated by visitors attending Expo from 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021. In addition to this, an estimated five million meals will be needed to keep the Expo 2020 workforce fed during the six months of Expo.
The Expo 2020 Dubai timeline for SMEs to bid for contracts to deliver F&B services at Expo is as follows:
• Register on e-Sourcing portal (now)
• Deliver SME business profiles (Q3, 2017)
• Primary catering operator package releases (Q3-Q4, 2017)
• Meet the Buyer event with lead catering operators (Q1-Q2, 2018)
• For selected SMEs, pitch your concept (Q1-Q2, 2018)
• Negotiations and awards (Q1-Q2, 2018)
• SME partnership connections defined (Q2, 2018)
• Planning phase (Q4, 2017-Q4, 2019)
• Testing phase (Q1-Q2, 2020)
[Suggested quote] Manal AlBayat, Senior Vice President, Business Development and Integration at Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “This BusinessConnect F&B session is just the beginning of the journey for SMEs in the food and beverage sector to Expo 2020 Dubai. Not only does it enable us to explain timelines and present opportunities to the SMEs, we also get to hear their questions and incorporate their feedback into our planning. More info
Source: mediaoffice.ae
