Gulfood 2027: what to film and photograph at your stand, and when

Gulfood 2027 runs from 15 to 19 March 2027 at Dubai World Trade Centre and Expo City Dubai, and is listed with 8,500 exhibitors from 195 countries and about 300,000 buyers and industry visitors. A stand in that hall competes with thousands of others, and the film and photography you bring home keep the conversation going after the show.

What Gulfood is

Gulfood is described as the world's leading food and beverage trade show. The 2027 edition spans two venues, Dubai World Trade Centre and Expo City Dubai, over five days. Gulfood Manufacturing, the show for food production, packaging and processing, is a separate event and runs on 3 to 5 November 2026 at Dubai World Trade Centre. The figures here come from the organiser's published listings, and they change between announcements.

What your content has to do

A stand needs content for three jobs, and most exhibitors only plan for the second one.

The shot list

This is the list we would agree with you before the show, and it works for most food and beverage stands.

• The stand, wide. One establishing shot that shows its size, branding and position in the hall
• Product hero shots. Each product that matters, lit consistently so the range looks like one brand
• Packaging close-ups. The label, the finish and the pack in a hand
• Tasting and sampling. Visitors trying the product
• Meetings. Buyers and your team talking, shot so no one needs to pose
• The founder or sales lead. A short interview at the stand about what the product is and who it is for
• Details. Signage, ingredients, certificates and anything buyers ask about

Shoot product and packaging before the show

A busy show floor is a poor place to photograph a pack. The lighting is fixed, the background is noisy and you cannot control reflections. We shoot a range in one block against a fixed lighting setup, so the fortieth product looks like it belongs beside the first. Do that in a studio a few weeks before Gulfood, and use the show days for people, atmosphere and interviews.

Plan the cutdowns before you shoot

Decide where the footage will be published, because each platform wants a different shape. We deliver video in 9:16 for stories and reels, 1:1 for the feed and 16:9 for the web and YouTube, and the shot list should leave room in the frame for each. A film framed only for widescreen loses its subject when it is cropped to vertical.

Budget in one block

A single crew call carries the full cost of a shoot day, so one day that covers everything costs far less per piece than several small shoots. Brief the show for everything you will need over the next year: the stand film, the interviews, the product range and the vertical clips. Event coverage is quoted per brief, and a reel starts from AED 1,000 for the shoot alone.

A timeline from eight weeks out

1. Eight weeks out (mid-January). Confirm what you will publish and book your crew.
2. Six weeks out. Agree the shot list and the interview questions.
3. Four weeks out (mid-February). Shoot packaging and product in a studio. Ask the organiser for filming rules and passes.
4. The week before. Confirm stand access and build times with your contractor and the crew.
5. 15 to 19 March. Shoot the stand, people and interviews.
6. After the show. Photography is normally delivered in 5 to 10 working days. Send follow-up emails with the new images while buyers still remember the stand.

Next steps

If you are exhibiting, tell us about the stand and we will scope the coverage. For the wider UAE calendar see the 2026 and 2027 trade show calendar, and for our food and packaging work see photography and packaging design.