Dubai Food District to expand existing fruit, vegetable market to over double its size

As the lives of UAE residents become increasingly fast-paced, demand for ready-to-eat fruits and vegetables is rising sharply. According to industry leaders, it is reshaping how fresh produce is traded, processed, and presented across the country.

“Retailers are asking for more pre-packed, pre-processed, ready to eat type of products,” said Ramzi Kuhail, General Manager – Fruits and Vegetables Market at DP World. “This is driven by the busy consumer. And now traders are getting into this space and asking for facilities to support it.” 

His views were supported by Bill Bulmer, Chairman of AusVeg, an Australian company that has been exhibiting at Gulfood for the last 10 years. “In the last decade, we’ve seen big changes in how food is bought and how it’s presented. It’s much more ready-to-go,” he said. “One of our newer products is small, ready to go snackable carrots,” he said. “Instead of a chocolate bar, you can (snack on) a carrot stick.”

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Bulmer added that younger consumers are increasingly focused on health and nutritional value. “There’s a generation that wants to know the true value of what they’re putting into their bodies,” he said. “As an industry, we need to make fresh fruit and vegetables easier to eat and easier to choose.”

Market growth

Dubai’s traditional food markets are under mounting pressure as population growth, tourism and consumption surge beyond what existing infrastructure was designed to handle.

“So the food trade in Dubai has basically outgrown the facilities and the markets existing today,” said Kuhail. “Our markets go back more than 20 years, and where we’ve reached today is beyond everyone’s imagination.”

He said this gap led DP World to step in and develop what it calls the Dubai Food District, expanding the existing Al Aweer Fruits and Vegetables Market into adjacent land that previously housed the auto market. “This will make the total size of the market about 29 million square feet — more than double what exists today,” he said.

This evolution is mirrored at Dubai Industrial City, where food and beverage manufacturers continue to expand. “We’ve grown our food and beverage manufacturing customers by 15 per cent from 2024 to 2025, reaching around 150 F&B customers,” said Saud Abu Alshawareb, Executive Vice President of Industrial at TECOM Group PJSC.

With 99 per cent occupancy and proximity to Jebel Ali Port, Al Maktoum International Airport and Etihad Rail, he said the ecosystem supports efficient, export-focused growth.

“Companies today are focusing mainly on exports,” he said, noting that CEPA agreements with 33 countries have helped UAE-made products reach global markets at lower costs.

Growing food district

According to Kuhail, the Dubai Food District aims to create an integrated food ecosystem. “The idea is to create a food district versus just a fruit and vegetables market,” Kuhail said. “We’re enabling markets for meat, dairy, pulses and other key food staples.”

He added that DP World’s global logistics ecosystem allows small and medium-sized traders to access services ranging from cold-chain logistics to trade finance. “This way, traders can grow and access markets locally, regionally, or even across more than 20 global markets,” he said.

One of the strongest shifts Kuhail highlighted is demand for value-added spaces. Apart from facilities that support pre-packed, pre-processed, and ready-to-eat produce, demand has also grown for additional cold storage and re-export facilities, as traders consolidate produce for distribution across the GCC and wider region.