Gulf countries like Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and therefore United Arab Emirates and these Countries are referred to as Gulf countries because of their geographical location around the Persian Gulf and Qatar is known as the wealthiest country among all but UAE is competing and growing with great opportunities to make the position in the global market.

The food and beverage industry stands as one of the world's most productive market segments and the Industry is also known for its service-oriented character.

The following key factors are the industry’s leading drivers when it comes to the Gulf zone.

• The demographics-the high degree of youth presence
• Strong per-capita value
• A multi-cultural foundation
• A dedicated destination for guests
• Continuous progress within the business, retail, and hospitality sectors
• The high demand for food and beverage goods for fitness, the standard of living, and luxury-related goods
• The intensive demand for competition
• Forthcoming Shows and Activities, Expo
• The Gulf welcomes hundreds of completely different nationalities with different cultural values and food tastes
• The superior quality of service

The change in the demand for beverages by native people as well as by tourists is due to globalisation and cultural diversification. This makes the food and beverage industry is more competent and more innovative with their products. The indeed required critical thinking makes the market more diverse in terms of creativity in beverages and selection of the ingredients. Just thinking of the above discussion one more important term strikes the mind -Functional Beverages.

Ready-to-drink beverages that are non-alcoholic and comprise non-traditional ingredients are referred to as ‘functional drinks’. Functional drinks comprise a couple of common ingredients like minerals, herbs, some raw fruits or vegetables. The health-related advantages offered by functional drinks are far more than the daily organic process intake.

Improved heart health, system strengthening, improved psychic energy, improved bone health, steroid and alcohol management, and different health-related advantages associated with eye health and vision. Dairy, increased fruit drinks and juices, ready-to-drink tea, energy drinks, functional milk, soy beverages, and sports and performance drinks are the foremost common forms of functional drinks.

The global functional beverage market is estimated to reach $208 billion by 2026, expanding at a CAGR of around 9% during the forecast period, 2020 – 2026. The growing shopper inclination towards the consumption of functional beverages is principal because of the rising demand for non-alcoholic beverages. Functional drinks are being most popular over effervescent drinks and fruit juices by shoppers.

For gaining a footing within the market corporations are springing up with new innovations. For varied blessings of functional beverages, the shoppers are willing to pay a premium that is one every of the most important blessings of functional beverages. Some facts and figures about the UAE retail sale revenue.

As reported by Euromonitor, in 2018, UAE retail sales value of soft drinks reached $5.1 billion. From 2013 to 2018, UAE retail sales of soft drinks grew with CAGR of around 5.7%. The largest category in this group was bottled water, juice and carbonated water. It is also worth mentioning that Ready to Drink (RTD) coffee had the highest CAGR of 22% between 2013 and 2018.

“The Arab Beverages Conference returns to the UAE following a great success last year, the conference offers networking opportunities and promotes discussion among hundreds of participants from the beverage industry and it supporting industries from all around the world. The Arab non-alcoholic beverages industry is now one of the fastest-growing industries in the Arab world, playing a vital role in the Arab countries economies, catering to over 300 million consumers in the Arab region alone, with a production volume of over 10 billion liters per year” stated the chairman of the Arab Beverage Association Monther Al Harthi.