Symrise presents “Accelerating Your Taste Advantage” at Gulfood Manufacturing from November 3–5, 2026. At Hall 8, booth F8-4, visitors will discover how regional consumer knowledge, AI-powered tools and formulation expertise help food and beverage manufac-turers develop products that match local tastes and business needs. Fourteen food and beverage creations bring emerging preferences across the Middle East, Africa and neighboring growth markets to life. Drawing on its global network and local customer relations, Symrise brings together expertise across the Group under its ONE Symrise strategy.
Turning market dynamics into taste advantage
At Gulfood Manufacturing 2026, Symrise will spotlight changing food and beverage preferences across the region. Consumers in the Middle East seek attractive value, great taste, trusted quali-ty, health benefits and authentic local experiences. In parallel, manufacturers face rapidly evolv-ing demand and supply challenges, making timely decisions and reliable partnerships increas-ingly important. Symrise’s trade show booth connects these market developments with practical opportunities for manufacturers. It draws on applied foresight, market intelligence and long-term customer relationships to identify emerging needs and shape relevant product ideas.
At the stand, visitors can explore findings from the 2026 Symrise Eating & Drinking Behavior Study and matching consumer personas, including a new health-oriented profile. Symvision AI™ helps translate this understanding into product development. Its recently launched Concept Stu-dio enables customers to create ideas tailored to their brands and portfolios, visualize potential products and assess predicted consumer liking at an early stage. Symvision AI™ Taste Design predicts how recipe adjustments affect taste, supporting formulation optimization and more effi-cient development.
“At Gulfood Manufacturing, we show how our local teams work side by side with customers to turn market realities into opportunities. We connect global expertise with strong local roots, relia-ble value chains and long-term partnerships. Together, these strengths help manufacturers re-spond to changing demand and build competitive advantage,” says Sofiane Berrahmoune, VP Food & Beverage Africa, Middle East & Central Asia (AME & CA) at Symrise.
From insight to bite
Visitors can sample 14 lifestyle-driven food and beverage creations at the booth. Symrise devel-oped them with its Decode, Design, Deliver approach and assessed their relevance and original-ity with regional consumer data from the analysis with Concept Scan, including findings from the UAE, KSA and Egypt. Daily “Insight to Bite” sessions show how the team translates an initial observation into a tangible food or beverage experience.
On November 4 at 12:10, Laura O’Connell, Marketing Director AME&CA, will join the panel dis-cussion “Smart Snacking Trends: Driving Transformations in the Industry.” She will share practi-cal perspectives on regional snacking preferences and their implications for manufacturers.
On November 5 from 13:00 to 14:00, Dr Dariah Lutsch, Naema Abdallah, and Diaa Abulela will host the interactive Innovation Stage workshop “Find the Sweet Spot: Accelerate Product De-velopment with Symvision AI™ Taste Design”. They will explore how predictive modeling, sen-sory and consumer understanding, and formulation expertise help teams refine recipes and streamline product development.
“We invite visitors to Gulfood Manufacturing to experience how research and technology trans-late into practical solutions. By combining consumer understanding with formulation expertise, we can develop products together that reflect market needs and open growth opportunities,” says Dominique Hilliard, Marketing Leader AME & CA Symrise F&B.
Gulfood Manufacturing offers Symrise an opportunity to meet customers and partners across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. At Hall 8, booth F8-4, the company brings the ONE Symrise approach to life: regional teams connect customers with global expertise to develop locally rele-vant taste solutions and support growth in strategically important markets.
