The Emirates Council for Food Security and the Ministry of Energy and Industry revealed the efficiency and effectiveness of operating 568 food and beverage factories, registered in the licensing system of the Ministry of Energy and Industry in all emirates of the country, with an annual production capacity of 5.96 million tons of various product categories, which includes 2.3 million tons of food items The President.
In a statement issued yesterday, the Council and the Ministry affirmed the ability of national factories operating in the country to double their total annual production of various food and beverage products, especially in times of crisis and emergency, as part of their plans to increase local production and upgrade with a view to responding to the requirements of the local market.
Factory distribution
The statement pointed out that the 568 food and beverage factories are distributed as follows: 40 factories in Abu Dhabi, 315 factories in Dubai, 77 factories in Sharjah, 72 factories in Ajman, 34 factories in Umm Al Quwain, 23 factories in Ras Al Khaimah, and seven factories in Fujairah, where they reach The maximum production capacity of these factories exceeds 16.3 million tons annually.
According to the statement, food factories in the country produce 15 major food items, including milk products totaling 633,000 tons, and include dairy industries and their products, cheese and cream industry, and butter industry.
Likewise, legumes with a total of about 400,000 tons, and include the industries for processing and packing legumes, roasting, salting and packing nuts, and packing spices and seasonings. The basic industries also include oils with a total of 331,000 tons, and include the production and refining of vegetable oils, and the packaging of vegetable and animal oils and fats.
Dates industry
The list of varieties also includes the dates industry, which is one of the main food varieties, which are produced with a total of more than 140 thousand tons, and includes industries for processing dates and packaging and manufacture of dates products, in addition to fresh poultry with a total of about 108 thousand tons, and includes slaughtering, preparing, and freezing poultry, and manufacturing products Poultry meat.
As well as fish industries with a total of 63 thousand tons, including canning, processing and freezing fish and seafood.
It also includes a list of the main food items that are manufactured in the country: sugar, tea, pepper, eggs, baby food, wheat, rice, coffee, and fresh meat.
Positive role
The Minister of Energy and Industry, Suhail Al Mazroui said, “The productive capabilities and the high flexibility that we have witnessed from the food factories in the country, whether in their ability to raise their production capacities or change their production lines to keep pace with the high demand for specific commodities, all of this has had a positive and pivotal role in promoting the sustainability of the system Food security in the country ».
Al Mazrouei added: “We are working to enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of these manufacturing capabilities in the long term, through the axes of the UAE’s advanced industries policy, which emphasized the importance of applying the fourth industrial revolution tools and advanced technologies in raising the productivity and efficiency of our national factories’ production lines. ”
The third largest sector
Al Mazrouei said that «the food and beverage industry sector is one of the most important sectors of the manufacturing industries in the country, as it is the third largest sector in terms of the number of national manufacturing companies with 568 national factories registered with the Ministry of Energy and Industry, and with an investment volume of 30% of the total investment in the industrial sector And with a contribution rate of 10% of the total number of workers in the industrial sector in the country.
He continued: «The growing importance of this sector lies in achieving food security and self-sufficiency in commodity products, as the category of small and medium-sized national factories overwhelms the sector, and provides local and regional markets with a variety of primary and secondary products, with many branches of the major global brands, which It takes the state a regional center for the manufacture and supply of its various products.
Integrated food system
For its part, Minister of State for Food Security, Maryam Bint Mohammed Al Muhairi, affirmed that the UAE has an integrated food system that includes the food industries sector that possesses large production capabilities, and can supply all the country's markets with various food and beverage products, including the main food items.
“We are working to implement the goals of the National Food Security Strategy, which includes a plan to improve the yield of possible domestic production with technology from food by 30%, and increase the proportion of production of key food items identified by 15% by 2021, which will be achieved through full cooperation with Various of our partners, from the federal and local authorities and the private sector, in order to enhance investments in the food sector and increase the number of food projects in all the emirates of the country ».
Al-Muhairi added that «the figures of recent productive capacities reflect the strength of the food processing sector in the country, and its ability to double its production in case of need to do so, and we will work during the coming period to enhance the capabilities of those factories with various technological capabilities, and diversity in the production of many of the major food varieties».
Support
The food industries sector is one of the most important sectors supporting the food security system in the UAE, as it provides added value in providing food commodities for long periods, and contributes to increasing local production also in the long term.
The Emirates Council for Food Security is working to provide the capabilities and mechanisms that guarantee the development of this sector sector in order to enhance food security in the country.
Food factories in the country produce 15 main varieties.