Global Food Week 2026 opens at the ADNEC Centre in Abu Dhabi on 6 October. The fair runs for three days, with India named guest of honour. ADNEC Group organises the event with the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority. Last year’s edition drew more than 2,580 companies from 92 countries, filling 42,000 square metres of exhibition space.
India’s pavilion will showcase exporters and brands across food, retail, logistics, packaging, technology and investment. Organisers say this reflects India’s growing role in shaping global food systems. The honour comes as India and the UAE deepen a trade relationship built substantially on agricultural exports. Rice, spices, fruit and seafood all move from Indian farms to Gulf supermarkets and the region’s large Indian expatriate population. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan holds patronage over the event. This year’s theme, “Building Scalable Food Futures Together,” ties the trade-fair side of the event to its parallel policy discussions. The Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority co-organises alongside ADNEC Group, giving the fair both a commercial and a regulatory sponsor.
A packed programme beyond the show floor
This year introduces “Shop at the Show.” The new retail platform lets visitors buy food, beverages, honey, dates and other agricultural products directly from exhibiting brands. Returning fixtures include the World Gourmet Show, which stages live cooking demonstrations, plus a beverage showcase and a Farmers Market selling produce straight from growers. An Abu Dhabi Honey Symposium runs alongside Apimondia, the international federation of beekeepers’ associations. Organisers describe the retail platform as a way of closing a long-standing gap. Trade fairs traditionally target importers and distributors, leaving ordinary shoppers unable to buy what they see on the stands.
The professional programme runs in parallel. A Global Food Security Summit takes place on 6 and 7 October, under the banner “Global Collaboration for Food Security for All.” An AgriTech Forum runs across all three days, and an FAO policy session follows on 7 and 8 October. A Farmers Majlis and a hosted-buyers programme aim to connect producers directly with regional importers. Together, these sessions are designed to give policymakers and company executives shared floor space, rather than splitting trade and policy discussions into separate events weeks apart.
Why it matters for Kerala and the Gulf diaspora
For Kerala’s diaspora in the Emirates, the event carries more than trade significance. Malayalam-language outlets in the UAE have covered the India pavilion closely. That coverage reflects how directly Gulf food security touches expatriate communities who both consume and increasingly help supply the region’s food. Kerala exporters of spices, coconut products and seafood are among the Indian firms with a stake in Gulf retail shelves. The state’s large expatriate workforce has long shaped Gulf demand for specific rice varieties, pickles and spice blends. That demand has, in turn, built export relationships that Kerala’s own agricultural exporters now rely on as a stable market, independent of swings in domestic Indian demand.
The summit’s food-security focus also lands against a backdrop of regional nerves over supply routes. Shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have already pushed grain-price warnings as high as 80% this week. That risk shows how exposed Gulf food imports remain to chokepoint disruption, even as trade fairs project confidence in supply resilience.
Abu Dhabi’s agriculture authority has used the event before to announce supply-chain and farming initiatives. Whether this year repeats that pattern will become clear as the three days unfold. The India partnership alone indicates where the emirate expects its next food-security partnerships to come from. A hosted-buyers programme throughout the fair aims to turn pavilion visits into signed contracts, rather than passing floor traffic alone.
