Gulfood 2027 · Dubai
Gulfood stands built by Lazulite come with plumbed sampling counters, powered chillers and quiet tables for buyer meetings. Lazulite's own engineers run the stand technology while your sales team meets importers and distributors. Our Dubai crews have worked nine Gulfood editions since 2016. Gulfood 2027 opens on 15 March for five days, split between Dubai World Trade Centre and Expo City Dubai.
Show facts
Gulfood is inD's annual, trade-only food and beverage sourcing exhibition, split between two Dubai venues.
Show details checked: 2 November 2026
Gulfood covers food and beverage sourcing: bulk commodities, staples such as rice and edible oils, branded goods, fresh produce and cold chain services. The organiser notes that the UAE imports most of its food and re-exports across the GCC, the wider Middle East and Africa. The January 2026 edition was the 31st.
Gulfood 2027 lists 12 sectors, among them Seafood, World Food, Gulfood Logistics and Gulfood Startups. In 2026, DWTC held Beverages, Dairy, Fats & Oils, Meat & Poultry, Power Brands, Seafood and the startups. Expo City took the World Food national pavilions, Rice, Pulses & Grains, Gulfood Fresh, Grocery Trade and Logistics.
Gulfood admits trade and business professionals aged 18 or over, and the organiser frames the show around food security. It says buyers come from 195 countries, and its Grocery Trade sector serves importers, exporters, wholesalers and distributors. India is the 2027 Official Partner Country, through APEDA. Give distributor talks a closed meeting room, away from the tasting counter.
Gulfood 2027 runs for five days, Monday 15 March to Friday 19 March. Halls open 10am to 6pm until 18 March and close at 5pm on the final day. The 2026 edition ran from 26 to 30 January, seven weeks earlier in the year.
Gulfood 2027 uses two venues again, Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City Dubai and Dubai World Trade Centre. When the show first split in 2026, the organiser says it sold out over 280,000 square metres. A free shuttle links the venues every 15 minutes from 8am to 7pm.
Gulfood stands that pour samples need water and drainage points fixed before drawings go in, about 11 weeks before the 15 March opening. The organiser's exhibitor manual carries the 2027 dates for drawings, passes and utility orders, and Lazulite confirms each once you book. A modular stand still fits a brief five weeks before opening, subject to those dates. Call +971 50 173 8408.
Planning timeline
Flagship kitchen brief
30 November 2026, 15 weeks before opening
Sinks and chiller loads fixed
28 December 2026, 11 weeks before
Custom stand brief closes
25 January 2027, 7 weeks before
Modular stand brief closes
8 February 2027, 5 weeks before
Chillers cold and screens tested
the build-up days before 15 March
Gulfood samples cannot leave the halls, as the organiser's admission policy states under Dubai Municipality rules, so a food stand keeps its stock on site. Lazulite builds custom stands in its Dubai workshop or supplies modular frames, with sampling counters, sinks, chilled stock cabinets and a carton store. Removal after 19 March is included.
Each Gulfood sector sells differently. A Dynamic LED Wall gives a Power Brands stand height, and a Kinetic Flip Book steps through a Beverages or Dairy range.
Gulfood's organiser sells no visitor or exhibitor data, so your own stand scans are your buyer list. Badge and QR scans, Interactive Kiosks and Event Registration & Badging Systems tag each contact as importer, distributor, retailer or foodservice, with the product tasted.
Gulfood runs five days, 10am to 6pm and to 5pm on Friday 19 March, and Lazulite engineers staff your stand for all of them. They run screens, kiosks and scanners and watch the load where chillers and cooking equipment share a supply. New price lists go on the screens before the 10am opening.
Gulfood buyers split their day between two venues, so a tasting counter needs a set sampling area and a visible queue. A Custom LED Display, an indoor LED video wall sized to the counter, shows the next tasting slot, and an Interactive Kiosk books buyers in.
On a Gulfood chiller door, a 3.0 Transparent OLED Portrait panel lays a spec sheet over real Dairy, Meat & Poultry or Seafood products.
World Food pavilions and Pulses & Grains exporters at Gulfood sell on origin, which a Tangible Table turns into a data card. A buyer sets down a sample jar, and the screen shows origin, traceability, pack sizes, and halal and food safety certificates.
Gulfood Logistics covers cold chain, storage and freight, which are hard to show on a stand. A lit Miniature Model lets a buyer follow one shipment through your port, cold store and delivery route.
Gulfood's organiser approves space-only stand drawings under its exhibitor manual. On a food stand, Lazulite marks each sink, drainage point and cooking position for your DWTC or Expo City hall. The set is revised until the sinks and drainage are signed off.
The organiser sets contractor registration and build-up passes in its Gulfood exhibitor manual, and Lazulite registers its crew for each venue. For overseas stand staff, Gulfood can issue a visa invitation letter through [email protected], though the organiser says it does not guarantee a visa.
At Gulfood 2022, the organiser asked for hand-washing facilities on any stand preparing food, and DWTC lists water and waste among its stand utilities. Lazulite prepares your power, water, rigging and internet needs and lodges every service order with DWTC's exhibitor services for you. DWTC operates both venues and names DXB Live as sole top-rigging provider, which Lazulite confirms for Expo City from the 2027 manual.
Water and drainage points on the Gulfood floor plan come first, read alongside your sector, stand number and venue.
The Gulfood organiser receives Lazulite's drawing set with every sink, chiller circuit and tasting area marked for review.
Spec sheets, certificates and price lists for Gulfood go onto the screens in Lazulite's Dubai workshop, beside the counters and chiller housings built there.
On the last build-up day at DWTC or Expo City, Lazulite's crew brings the cabinets to temperature and runs a first tasting with your staff.
Friday 19 March ends Gulfood at 5pm, and Lazulite's crew then drains and disconnects the sinks with the venue team before the stand comes down.
Sinks and refrigeration give a Gulfood stand a cost line beside floor area and build type. Each square metre of modular Gulfood build typically takes AED 1,000 to 2,000 of design, fabrication and installation, and custom joinery AED 1,500 to 3,500. A sink and chiller wall cost the same on 12 square metres as on 36, so plumbing weighs more on a compact budget.
Gulfood floor space comes from the organiser through the Book Your Stand form on gulfood.com, and startups apply through the Startup Showcase form. Water and drainage are separate DWTC lines. Lazulite works out those loads with your power, rigging and internet needs, places the orders for you and itemises each charge.
Gulfood exhibitors can save by renting the frame and spending on the tasting counter and one screen. Rental for the queue screen, an indoor LED video wall, is typically AED 300 to 650 per square metre for each show day. Inside a World Food national pavilion, several exhibitors can share one plumbed tasting kitchen.
Budget bands
Compact
A single tasting counter on about 12 square metres sits at an indicative AED 30,000 to 70,000
Standard
A plumbed sampling stand near 36 square metres runs to an indicative AED 80,000 to 200,000
Flagship
A kitchen and meeting room on a 100 square metre island reaches an indicative AED 300,000 to 650,000
Ranges checked: November 2026
Pricing note: These ranges are indicative, for planning only. Your final quote depends on your requirements, stand size, show duration and the resources your stand needs. They exclude organiser space, venue charges for power, rigging and internet, and VAT.
Rent vs custom
Rent
A rented frame around your tasting counter
Custom build
Counters, kitchen and pavilion joinery built in Dubai
On a Gulfood stand, one utilities service plan has to carry chillers, cooking equipment and LED walls together. DWTC has the stand contractor draw it up with its team, and one Lazulite engineer owns it.
Gulfood 2027 splits its sectors between DWTC and Expo City, about 50 minutes apart by Metro. Lazulite runs a crew at each venue during build-up, so a World Food pavilion and a Dairy stand open on the same morning.
Lazulite test-fits your packs, bottles and trays on the shelves and chiller racks in Dubai, so the Gulfood stand arrives ready to stock.
Trusted by
Arabian Travel Market brings travel and tourism to Dubai World Trade Centre from 3 to 6 May 2027.
Big 5 Global, the construction and urban development show, runs 23 to 26 November 2026 at Dubai World Trade Centre. Its 2027 edition is due in November, dates to be confirmed.
ADIHEX shows hunting, equestrian and outdoor traditions at ADNEC Centre Abu Dhabi from 27 August to 5 September 2027.
Can't find your answer? Speak with our Dubai team.
No. Gulfood 2027 runs from 15 to 19 March across two venues, DWTC and Dubai Exhibition Centre at Expo City, linked by shuttle. Confirm which venue holds your hall before you book freight, since stand parts and samples travel to one site.
Let's build it together
List the products you plan to sample at Gulfood 2027, with your stand number, sector and venue. Lazulite answers with a first concept priced as a range, then a fixed quote after you sign off the design. Ring +971 50 173 8408 to book a site visit or call.
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