REPORT : 5th Global Dairy Innovation Congress MENA 2023

Globalization has impacted the world in many positive ways across various industries and the dairy industry is also has got benefitted from this. Different types of dairy products are produced in many countries and are consumed all across the world, and every year massive quantities of branded and unbranded products like milk, cheese, and other dairy products are traded between countries.

As per estimated number, approximately 40 percent share of the global dairy product export market is controlled by the European Union with countries like Germany, France, and Ireland as they are renowned for the various dairy products including cheese and butter. Only Germany exports about 5 billion dollars worth of cheese every year.

With the industrial revolution and over the past couple of millennia, a tremendous amount of innovation and creativity has been witnessed by the dairy industry and when you analyze the types of products and their manufacturing processes, fermenting and even consuming many things have changed for the better.

Specifically, if you look at the last three years, these were full of surprises for the dairy industry. And 2023 already looks to be shaping up to be a challenging one, with the increased pressure on companies to focus more on innovation. Interestingly the growth rate is very optimistic and as of today the total value of the global dairy market has been estimated to be about $900 billion dollars, which is projected to grow to $1150 billion by 2026.

As far as the GCC dairy market is concerned, it has reached a value of nearly $9.95 billion in 2022 and by the next five years, the market is projected to reach an estimated value of $12.90 billion. The market is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 5% between 2023 and 2028. Across the globe, the dairy industry's growth will depend on new innovations and the creative drive to meet new consumer demands.

With time, consumption preferences of dairy products have changed from traditional dairy products to a variety of new options as it has been observed that regional consumers have become more informed, influential, and tech-savvy and have premium food expectations. The local dairy industry has also gone through tremendous transformations with many local brands with high-quality products and many innovative products and packaging formats. Moving forward various digital solutions are going to play in revolutionizing the GCC dairy production and processing.

Recently, the 5th Global Dairy Innovation Congress 2023 was concluded in Dubai. The event is the first of its kind for local and international dairy stakeholders to grasp MENA countries’ market opportunities, dairy product demands and preferences, channel and trade strategies, novel farming and processing technologies, and innovative dairy products showcased to enhance business growth in MENA.

Around 25 eminent speakers presented their thoughts and ideas on the dairy industry's trends, prospects, and challenges from global as well as local perspectives.

Some of the speakers who addressed the audience in this 2 days event were, Ms Caroline Emond, Director General of the International Dairy Federation, Prof. Ahmed El Tigani, CEO, AlRawabi Dairy, Sergei Kiselev, Senior R&D Manager, Al Ain Farms, Gerrit Smit, Managing Director, Yili Innovation Centre, Shaimaa Tawfik, Director of R&D and New Businesses, Beyti, Amr Ismail, Country Manager Egypt, FrieslandCampina, Tamer Naguib, Commercial General Manager, Beyti and George Halim, Managing Director Middle East, Africa & Turkey, DMK Baby

Ms. Caroline Emond, Director General of the International Dairy Federation, informed the audience about the contributions of the IDF across the globe and invited the audience to be part of the organization and benefit from the expertise, research materials, and reports.

She informed the audience that since IDF is a recognized international authority in the development of science-based standards for the dairy sector and has already played an important role in ensuring the right policies, standards, practices, and regulations for different parts of the world, regional players and the GCC countries will benefit from being members of the organization.

"IDF is the leading source of scientific and technical expertise for all stakeholders in the dairy chain. Since 1903, the IDF has provided a mechanism for the dairy sector to reach a global consensus on how to help feed the world with safe and sustainable dairy products." - Caroline Emond

Prof. Ahmed El Tigani, CEO of Al Rawabi Dairy Company based in the UAE, spoke about the challenges in managing dairy companies in the MENA region.

Prof. Ahmed, who is the founder and leader of Al Rawabi Dairy Company from 1989 to the present, shared how he envisioned having a dairy company in the desert and how he managed the company by having SMART goals and a dedication to serving the consumers based on their needs for various different types of dairy products.

He also highlighted the importance of convenient packaging and his company’s efforts in introducing plastic bottles for dairy products in 1991, pasteurized juices to the region, and launching mineral- and vitamin-enriched products such as Nutree Boost, Vitamin D milk, and Super Milk.

“It is very important to have clarity in your vision followed by SMART goals to be successful in all your endeavors." Prof. Ahmed El Tigani

Well, Cow’s Milk is the first preference of global consumers including GCC. But interestingly for thousands of years, countries in GCC/MENA have consumed camel milk as well. Surprisingly, over the past two decades, there has been an increase in interest in Camel Milk in various parts of the world. Health-conscious consumers are said to be driving the surge. Some amazing facts on Camel Milk and its production and benefits were presented by Sergei Kiselev, Senior R&D Manager, Al Ain.

He informed that from a nutritional perspective, camel milk is quite richer than cow’s milk in vitamin B, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, iron, and potassium, camel milk also contains higher quantities of copper. Although pricier than cow’s milk, there is a noticeable increase in its demand has been seen in the global market.

The dairy industry and its products are certainly very important for humankind because they not only provide important nutrients for them but also provide a livelihood for many around the globe. Innovation is the key when organizations are involved in the process of finding what exactly is required by the consumers.

Shaimaa Tawfik, Director of R&D and New Businesses, spoke about product innovation and its importance for the dairy industry. She explained how innovations depend on different aspects such as technological developments, demanding consumer trends, local traditional requirements, and economic trends.

She emphasized future projection studies in the dairy industry as that has been very important in order to take the correct position and make the correct plans for investment, product development, and research and development activities.

 A very insightful panel discussion on the topic of How COVID-19 is impacting MENA Dairy trends was moderated by Kaunain Shahidi.

The pandemic has been perceived as a series of negative impacts affecting the dairy industry from both the demand and supply sides. These waves have affected the industry in many ways, differently depending on regions and countries’ trade profiles, relative resource scarcity, per capita income, consumer demands, and market structure. Although the dairy industry has mostly recovered from the shock, but pandemic has accelerated ongoing structural changes taking place in the dairy industry and regional players have taken many actions to mitigate the risks.

In African countries, the pandemic resulted in significant disruptions in milk processing, collection, distribution, and sales & marketing. Informal and small milk collectors and processors also faced traffic restrictions, and because of the unavailability of the cold chain networks, an increase in the spoilage of dairy products has been noticed which ultimately resulted in an increase in the cost of dairy products in the region.

George Halim, Managing Director of DMK Baby, spoke about the sustainability challenges faced by the dairy industry. He informed that the global dairy industry is influenced directly by the consequences of global warming, and there is a significant release of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, hence it is high time the dairy industry must accelerate the use of environmental sustainability practices. The demand for environmental sustainability practices has increased in a variety of economic sectors worldwide. It is not only about sustainable packaging materials but the complete value chain must be looked into. He mentioned that the contribution of packaging materials is quite insignificant in GHG emissions if we compare it with other activities including manufacturing and operations.

Innovation has been always at the forefront of the dairy industry since the industrial revolution. Pranav Shah, Global Market Director, SPX Flow, spoke about its importance, and since at present, the fourth industrial revolution is building on the third, the digital revolution the dairy industry must give attention to that. The innovation must be characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. He explained to the audience the solutions available for the innovation of dairy and plant-based processing.

In European nations, of late, there has been mounting pressure from consumers to reduce environmental stress in the manufacturing sectors including dairy production, as there is a belief that it is directly related to climate change. Though a tremendous amount of work has been done by the industry towards balanced production, reduced environmental impacts, and improvements witnessed in economic efficiency and social security, still more to be done in GCC/MENA region with a focused approach to sustainability in the dairy sector. Amr Ismail, Country Manager Egypt, FrieslandCampina, explained his company’s strategy and various projects that have been done in this regard.

When we talk about managing the herds in the dairy industry, historically, the industry has kept on addressing and finding the solutions to the prevalent challenges, such as poor reproduction, reduction in milk production, and milk quality, as well as lameness, as singular issues. It has been found that there is a common root cause that links these production issues, i.e., chronic, or imbalanced inflammation. Harrie van der Vliet, Product Manager Ruminants, Agrifirm/Nuscience spoke on the subject of the Significance of inflammation in Dairy Cows.

Egypt is one of the largest economies of GCC which is developing quite fast in various sectors. The dairy value chain in Egypt is very unique in its nature as this penetrates deep within rural communities and constitutes an indispensable component of the rural economy. The industry contributes in many ways to the livelihoods of farmers and small-scale dairy producers.

Tamer Naguib, Commercial General Manager of Beyti, Egypt spoke about his company’s Egyptian Market approaches and adaptation strategies to new challenges.

Beyti is one of the largest producers of milk, juice, and yoghurt in Egypt, targeting a market of 110 million consumers and catering to different consumer profiles. Beyti produces a number of agrifood products, as well as cooking and whipping creams, for domestic consumption and export sales. The company has done tremendous work through innovative approaches to reach to rural areas to cater to its consumers in different ways.

Blockchain, the digital record-keeping technology behind cryptocurrency networks, has been an absolute game-changer in the financial world, and this revolutionary technology has great potential to improve the supply chains by enabling faster, more accurate, and more cost-efficient delivery of products, enhancing products’ traceability, improving coordination between partners, and aiding access to smart contracting in the dairy industry as well. Kaunain Shahidi spoke about the benefits of the blockchain in the dairy industry, its challenges, and a way to overcome those and implement the same in the region for multiple benefits.

Abdallah Zankar, Vice President of Jefo Nutrition spoke about the disruptive technology in dairy nutrition. He mentioned that digital technologies are the future of dairy farms, and with the advent of the pandemic, it has never been more critical to rethink what and how we do things in dairy. Learning the lessons and challenges faced during the pandemic now is the time to look again at technologies and how they might best fit from a performance and profitability perspective.

Bilal Dogan and Jaime Iglesias from GEA Digital Solutions spoke about the next generation of farming through disruptive technologies. They mentioned that the agribusiness industry has witnessed dramatic shifts and moving towards in pursuit of a more efficient, resilient, and future-friendly farm where automation, mobile technologies, and cloud computing are driving transformation.

Gerrit Smit, Managing Director of Yilli Innovation Centre Europe addressed the audience about how can dairy industry build a healthy future by connecting globally. He explained the innovative approach followed by his company in developing new products with a focus on consumer demands to meet their requirements of health and safety.

Mehdi Berrada and Khaled Al Khatib from Tate&Lyle spoke about the reformation strategies to assist dairy product development in addressing key consumer health challenges. They offered various innovative solutions to meet the demanding consumers of the GCC/MENA.

Kishor Pisal, Corporate Account Manager, Ecolab spoke about Food safety in the dairy industry and especially in the MENA region, which depends on imports for meeting a large part of its food needs. 

Samanta Fensterseifer & Ricardo Arias from United Animal Health addressed the important issue of a Cow’s ability to effectively perform and produce more milk.

Professor Marijana Blazic from Karlovac University of Applied Sciences, Croatia presented her research study on the modification of the cheese ripening process and the development of whey-based products.

Muhammadu Damaka, President of the Commercial Dairy Ranchers Association of Nigeria, and Richard Walton, Senior Advisor of Meiji Co. Ltd, Japan addressed the audience through video. Damaka spoke about the livestock sub-sector in Nigeria while Walton took the audience through value-added dairy products of the Japanese market.

“Well, globally, the dairy industry is doing its job and doing it very well, yes challenges are there, and we believe, that every challenge, every adversity, contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth” mentioned Kaunain Shahidi, Chairman of the 2-day event.

“And innovation arises from ongoing circles of exchange through this kind of global congress, where information is not just accumulated or stored but created while exchanging ideas and views about those challenging moments” he added.

Demand for dairy products in the GCC/MENA region is bound to keep growing because of various well-known reasons including a young and growing population, improved access to education, rising incomes, increased focus on health and wellness, and continued food service growth. Though local dairy producers are doing their bit, still the region depends on imports for more than half of their food needs, including dairy, creating a high-potential growth opportunity to further develop the dairy industry in the region.