VISITUS - Food Business Gulf & Middle East

DDTE PREVIEW27brands and it will also contribute in creating anew direction for the consumers of thosebeverages that are covered by the survey.”Dr. Al Banna also said: “ the Awards willcreate a competitive spirit among participatingbrands and shall add exclusivity to thebeverages sector that can create more chancesfor developing new beverages according to theresults of the survey which will show whichbeverage are the Middle East's Favourite.”“The beverage sector is a vital sector andincludes a number of domains underneath itwhich cannot be compared to each otherbecause each domain has its own group ofconsumers. For example, you cannot comparecoffee to soft drinks because each has its ownconsumer category, and that's why we haveclassified the award into 8 different beveragecategories.” Added Dr. Al BannaThe survey will start on October 15 and willend on November 15 this year. More than 1.6Million individual will take part in this surveywhich shall cover the whole MENA Region. Inaddition, there are more than 30 internationaland regional brands who are taking part in thecompetition such as Lipton, Nescafe and Rawabi,and the results will be announced during a GalaDinner on December 5th in Dubai.The “Arab Asian Beverage Alliance” is keento consider and develop the technical andinvestment aspects of the beverage industryand liquid food sectors in the GCC, MiddleEast and the World. Moreover, the AABAdiscuss the latest in the beverage industry andprovides a platform for proven products andthe latest in production machinery andequipment, process and quality controlinstruments, storage, transport and labelinghandling services associated with the industrythrough the Dubai Drink Technology Expo.The AABA will also hosts an “EducationalTraining Workshop” delivered by the VLB BerlinInstitute from Germany, one of the World'sleading institute for research and technology inthe field of beverage products. The workshopwill include a variety of topics including water,packaging, energy and utilities and will beattended by specialists from the beveragesector, production managers, quality control,chemical engineers, microbiologists, projectmanagers and brand managers.The AABA has more than 100 members onboard who are specialists in the field ofbeverage industry and is held at a time wherethe beverage industry is prospering in someArabic countries including the UAE, KSA andEgypt. Members come from differentbackgrounds including brand owners,manufacturers, distributors, packaging,retailers, marketing agencies and governmentalbodies in the UAE and Asia.OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2012FOOD BUSINESS GULF & MIDDLE EAST