UAE F&B Leaders Unite To Build The Next Generation Of Homegrown Brands

More than 75 senior leaders from across the UAE’s Food & Beverage ecosystem came together for a sold-out edition of The Hot Take, an industry gathering created by Idea Atelier Founder Seda Solmaz to explore how the UAE can create more globally successful food and beverage brands.

Held at Avant Garde Concept Store in Al Quoz, Dubai, the event brought together founders, FMCG executives, manufacturers, retailers, innovation leaders and industry stakeholders for an evening of candid discussions on entrepreneurship, innovation, scalability, food security and the future of the UAE's F&B industry.

The event featured an inspiring keynote by Saleh Lootah, Chairman, UAE Food & Beverage Manufacturing Business Group; founder spotlights featuring brands like Maraqah, Raw Grow, Tabchilli, Coco Bites and Tapenaz; a fireside chat featuring Emirates Growth Fund with its first F&B investment in the UAE, CarniStore; a panel discussion bringing together perspectives across large FMCG manufacturing, ingredients, startups and retailers with great audience participation, creating an open forum for industry leaders to discuss both the opportunities and challenges facing emerging brands as they seek to grow from local success stories into international businesses.

A recurring theme throughout the evening was the need for stronger collaboration across the ecosystem to support F&B founders throughout every stage of their growth journey.

Speaking during the event, Seda Solmaz, Founder of Idea Atelier UAE, said, "If I were advising the UAE government on one priority, it would be creating a more connected support system for homegrown F&B brands from idea to scale.

Today, founders often face challenges accessing the infrastructure, expertise, manufacturing capacity and growth support needed at different stages of their journey. The UAE has all the ingredients to create globally recognised F&B brands. The opportunity now is to build an ecosystem that makes it easier for more founders to scale from local success stories to global ones.

FIX shouldn't be a once-in-a-generation success story. It should be the first of many."

The discussion reflected the growing maturity of the UAE's food and beverage sector, with participants highlighting the country's unique combination of entrepreneurial ambition, world-class infrastructure, investment appetite and innovation mindset.

Reflecting on the success of the evening, Seda added. "The UAE wasn't built by waiting for opportunity. It was built by creating it. The conversations at The Hot Take showed that the same entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in the food and beverage industry today, as we work together to build the next generation of F&B brands from the UAE to the world."

"The Hot Take was created to bring together the people actively shaping the future of food and beverage in the UAE. What we saw in the room was a shared belief that the UAE can become not only a destination for innovation, but a creator of it."

The sold-out event welcomed representatives from across the food and beverage value chain, including manufacturing, retail, innovation, entrepreneurship and investment, reflecting growing industry appetite for greater collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

Following the success of this year's event, organisers confirmed plans to continue building The Hot Take as a platform for meaningful industry dialogue and practical collaboration, helping support the next generation of food and beverage brands emerging from the UAE.