People are happy to pay more for food as long it's healthy and nutritious, despite the cost of living crisis, industry experts have said.
While the cost of living has risen, causing food prices to increase, consumers will pay extra as long as they know they are getting healthy food.
The National spoke to experts on the opening day of the Gulfood trade show at Dubai’s World Trade Centre.
One of the trends emerging was consumers buying less than before but spending more to ensure it is the right food — a classic case of quality not quantity.
“People are looking for better food than before, despite the fact costs are rising,” said Kieran Fitzgerald, regional director in Mena for Bord Bia (the Irish food board).
“We are noticing, from talking to customers, that while shopping basket value and size is dropping, people are going for higher value products.
“Globally we’ve seen that people are changing how they are consuming. They are going out to restaurants less, but we’ve seen they are buying higher quality products from retailers.”
A recent report from YouGov, which was published earlier this month, showed two-fifths of UAE residents said their disposable income had decreased over the past year.
The study, which covered almost 20,000 people across 18 different countries, showed the UK had the highest number of respondents whose income had decreased in the past 12 months (64 per cent).
Almost a third of respondents in the UAE (31 per cent) said they planned to regularly save money over the next year.
Learning to better manage money was the top response (34 per cent) when UAE residents were asked what they needed to improve their financial situation.
This was just ahead of understanding investments and making a budget, which both were listed by 30 per cent of respondents.
'Nutritional content of food is vital'
The habits of consumers in the UAE have changed in recent years, according to Mr Fitzgerald.
“Research we’ve conducted shows the majority of adults now believe the nutritional content of food is vital,” he said.
“The environmental impact, food safety and traceability are also priorities for people when they are deciding what food to buy.”
He also said the Middle Eastern market is a key region for the Irish, especially after Brexit.
“The UK has traditionally been our biggest market but Brexit has taught us a lot about a dependence on just one market,” he said.
“We’ve learnt it’s important to differentiate your markets. The Middle East is an important growth market to us.
“It was worth €364 million to us last year, that figure was only a couple of million euros as recently as 15 or 20 years ago.”
Another expert said there was a clear trend in the UAE of people moving towards healthy and nutritious options when it came to eating preferences.
“A wide variety of people are looking to cook at home now and want to know about the nutritional value of what they are cooking,” said Mark Casey, general manager of trade strategy and stakeholder affairs for Fonterra, a New Zealand firm specialising in dairy products.
“We’re seeing a trend where people are trying to find out more about the nutritional value of what they are eating and that’s because they want their dirhams to go a bit further.”
He said he doubted food prices would stop going up any time soon.
“It’s only going to keep rising, due to the cost pressures on the food chain,” he said.
“I don’t think those pressures are coming off anytime soon when it comes to food.
“The price increases are here to stay. If you look at other areas like fuel prices, they came down a little bit (since the cost of living crisis began) but food prices have not.”
The food market is largely protected by the fact people need to eat, said another industry expert at Gulfood.
“People can’t just stop buying food. We have noticed they are saving expenses by spending less on leisure activities or are eating at home and going out less,” said Michael Nail, export sales manager for French cooking oil firm Lesieur.
“People began cooking at home a lot more during Covid-19 and that’s something we are still seeing.”
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
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He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
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Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
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