5% growth compared to the same period last year

4.4 billion dirhams of beverage sales in the UAE within 6 months

Monther Al Harthy: "The beverage markets in the UAE and the Gulf region are expected to record an increase in sales during the next year."

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the "Arab Beverage Association", Munther Al-Harthy, stated that "the total value of beverage sales in the UAE markets amounted to 1.2 billion dollars (4.4 billion dirhams), according to market data at the end of last June (six months)."

He pointed out, in statements to "Emirates Today", on the sidelines of a press meeting held in Dubai yesterday, that "the UAE markets recorded a growth in their sales by about 5% compared to the same time period last year, achieving indicators of a gradual recovery from the repercussions imposed by the pandemic. Supporting the return of consumer demand growth in the markets, and the revival of business and leisure tourism activities.”

He added, "It is expected that the beverage markets in the UAE and the Gulf region will record an increase in sales during the next year, at rates close to the current growth rates, while monitoring the growth in demand in the markets, especially for dairy beverages, which are the fastest recovering, followed by soft drinks, followed by And with lower rates of juice drinks of various categories, which faced greater challenges, while keeping pace with the periods of imposing a tax on sugar-sweetened products, close to the period of the pandemic.

He explained that «the sector has absorbed a number of challenges it faced at the regional level, including the lack of supply chains for products and raw materials related to packaging and the high prices, in addition to the gradual increase in the cost of shipping and transportation, until it reached five times its prices per container during 2019, in addition to a rise And the difficulties of shipping (fruit concentrates) from different markets, which led to an increase in their prices by 5-10%, especially after the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which raised the difficulties of supplying these products.

Al-Harthy said, "The beverage industry in the region's markets is witnessing high competitiveness in all its categories, which made companies operating in the industry exclude resorting to any price increases, and absorb the various challenges imposed by the pandemic or resulting from international economic changes."

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