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The National Food Catalogue establishes a single trusted digital environment for product information across the UAE food sector, an initiative of the UAE Food Cluster under the patronage of the Ministry of Economy and Tourism that is powered by GS1 Standards and Trusted Data Services. It provides a verified source of data that government entities, retailers and industry stakeholders can use consistently, according to an announcement covered by Bizpreneur Middle East. The platform was introduced at the Future Food Forum 2026 as the first project from the UAE Food Cluster to enhance trade, market connectivity and overall sector efficiency.
The catalogue forms part of the UAE’s Zero Government Bureaucracy Programme by enabling all parties to work from the same reliable data source, which reduces duplication and simplifies registration as well as regulatory processes for the food industry. “The National Food Catalogue gives the UAE food sector a national foundation of trusted product data,” Rami Habbal, CEO of GS1 UAE, said. “With one verified identity for every product, it brings greater transparency from source to shelf and enables government and industry to work from a single, shared source of information.”
Saleh Lootah, Chairman of the UAE Food and Beverages Manufacturers Group, addressed the forum on the importance of an integrated approach following recent global challenges. “Recent years have tested every link in our food value chain, and what carried us through was an ecosystem working together as one,” Lootah said. “The Cluster’s role is to remove obstacles across the value chain so the sector can move faster and grow bigger, and the National Food Catalogue, our first initiative, does exactly that. Food security today depends on connected, trusted data and the agility to act on it. With GS1 UAE and our partners, we are stronger with the data we have.”
This launch aligns with ongoing national efforts to build food system resilience, including the maintenance of strategic reserves and diversification of supply routes in response to potential disruptions, Khamis Alsheryani, Advisor to the Director General at the Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, told the Hili Forum last month. According to the UAE Government portal, the country ranked first in the MENA region and 23rd globally on the Global Food Security Index in 2022. The ne’ma National Food Loss and Waste initiative separately targets a 50 percent reduction in food loss and waste by 2030 through coordinated action across the supply chain.
A Grant Thornton UAE sector review placed UAE food and beverage revenues at $39.8 billion as of June 2025, with projections for a 5.3 percent compound annual growth rate between 2025 and 2030. The expansion reflects rising demand linked to population growth, tourism and a thriving hospitality sector that continues to drive consumption of both local and imported products. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service forecasts additionally point to higher imports of grains and feed in the 2026-2027 marketing year to meet needs in poultry, dairy and direct human consumption while the government maintains stocks equivalent to three to six months of wheat and rice supply.
The Emirates Council for Food Security, established by Cabinet decision, oversees implementation of the National Food Security Strategy by monitoring progress, proposing regulations and assessing risks across the entire food system. Public platforms indicate the strategy emphasizes local production increases, such as the National Agriculture Centre goal to expand productive farms by 20 percent and organic operations by 25 percent through 2030 while adopting climate-smart technologies. Officials have stressed that connected data systems like the new catalogue support these aims by facilitating smoother coordination among producers, regulators and distributors.
