# Fello American Friends



## ovomustafa (Feb 20, 2014)

Hello All,

Hope all is well and you're all succeeding in Dubai and enjoying this lovely very intense heatwave.

I have a question for you all if you wouldn't mind me asking.

I am contemplating to start an Exporting Business into the Dubai Market, products from the USA.

I have been to Dubai only a few times and noticed many people including locals love American products 

(Consumer goods, Hygiene, Home Products, etc.)

What would you all consider me researching and looking into to get into your hands, products your local friends in the community may miss and wish would have.

Please don't hesitate to comment and message me as well.

I am a beginner in the Dubai market but I have some experience in International Trade with other countries but not the GCC.

Thanks All

Mustafa


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

ovomustafa said:


> What would you all consider me researching and looking into to get into your hands, products your local friends in the community may miss and wish would have.


Tartan paint, glass hammers and long walks off short piers ?


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
In my option, that market is well catered for in Dubai.
We personally avoid all packaged US food products - far too much High Fructose Corn Syrup used.
Cheers
Steve


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## ovomustafa (Feb 20, 2014)

twowheelsgood said:


> Tartan paint, glass hammers and long walks off short piers ?


lol I can't do the impossible


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## ovomustafa (Feb 20, 2014)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> In my option, that market is well catered for in Dubai.
> We personally avoid all packaged US food products - far too much High Fructose Corn Syrup used.
> Cheers
> Steve


I want to avoid food products, I myself feel what is available in Dubai is actually much healthier in terms of ingredients in the food products are of higher quality, especially coming from Europe.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

ovomustafa said:


> I want to avoid food products, I myself feel what is available in Dubai is actually much healthier in terms of ingredients in the food products are of higher quality, especially coming from Europe.


Same probably applies to non-food items


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## Nursemanit (Jul 10, 2015)

There is not enough Americans in Dubai to create a market. The malls are full of American brands for the locals ( that are mostly made in Asia.) 

As far as the food - getting you food criticized by the English is like getting your military criticized by the French.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Nursemanit said:


> There is not enough Americans in Dubai to create a market. The malls are full of American brands for the locals ( that are mostly made in Asia.)
> 
> As far as the food - getting you food criticized by the English is like getting your military criticized by the French.


Fortunately the UK and Europe are not using high fructose corn syrup or GM ingredients in their food - as the European food safety standard authorities are fully aware of the hazards these pose to human health.


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## Nursemanit (Jul 10, 2015)

HCFS in any large quantity is of course not good for you but it is no worse than sugar in equal amounts. 

The EU bans GMO products because their farmers and biotech fell behind and now is outcompeted by the US. 

There is no science that supports banning GMO's it is pure EU protectionism.


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## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Nursemanit said:


> HCFS in any large quantity is of course not good for you but it is no worse than sugar in equal amounts.
> 
> The EU bans GMO products because their farmers and biotech fell behind and now is outcompeted by the US.
> 
> There is no science that supports banning GMO's it is pure EU protectionism.


HFCS is far more harmful than sugar, in equal amounts.
Believe what you like about GMO - but I would rather not eat sweet corn containing salmon genes!!


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## Nursemanit (Jul 10, 2015)

"HFCS is far more harmful than sugar, in equal amounts." care to quote a peer reviewed source ?


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## Mambo21 (Mar 19, 2016)

Am I the only one who found it funny that a thread addressed to fellow Americans started off with a misspelling in the very first word?


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## Nursemanit (Jul 10, 2015)

Obviously the sentence structure of the OP indicates that he was not born in the US. I think his english is better than my urdu so I don't find the misspelling strange .


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

As has been said, I think the market is already pretty much catered for and what isn't here can easily be ordered online.


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## Byja (Mar 3, 2013)

Mambo21 said:


> Am I the only one who found it funny that a thread addressed to fellow Americans started off with a misspelling in the very first word?


Hello + fellow = Fello

Being an engineer this seems perfectly fine...


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Nursemanit said:


> getting you food criticized by the English is like getting your military criticized by the French.


There are more Michelin starred restaurants in the Uk than in France


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Nursemanit said:


> "HFCS is far more harmful than sugar, in equal amounts." care to quote a peer reviewed source ?


Anyone ho isnt an American just looks at Americans and nods sagely.

Plenty of sources out there which are only equalled in volume by the HFCS industry lies which are either paid for, or never peer reviewed.


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## Nursemanit (Jul 10, 2015)

If there are plenty of peer reviewed sources then quote them ......

Oh and while I am calling BS on things it is not even close . 

The Countries with the Most Michelin Star Restaurants.... 
Country 
1 Tokyo 226 
2	Paris	France 118
London	United Kingdom 68


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## twowheelsgood (Feb 21, 2013)

Nursemanit said:


> If there are plenty of peer reviewed sources then quote them ......


Sorry your servants are away on holiday - it doesnt mean we have to do it for you. 



Nursemanit said:


> Oh and while I am calling BS on things it is not even close .


You are correct - my apologies - I believe I should have said London and Paris, but as your BS detector works so well, perhaps you'd like to scan it over your posts in future before pressing the 'Submit Reply' button ?

Thats assuming your servants come back to answer your enquiries for you on how to do that :boxing:


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## Nursemanit (Jul 10, 2015)

Yeah that is what I thought - you can't find a single source to back up the drivel you post . I have backed up every post I make and I post links as proof . Show me a single post that I was incorrect . 


It is funny for a group of posters who are so fond of telling new people to " google it " you never actually check or verify the housewife hearsay you pass off as facts.


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## ovomustafa (Feb 20, 2014)

Mispelling was accidental. I was typing to quick. Thanks for the heads up!


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## XDoodlebugger (Jan 24, 2012)

Not sure what food items you could import to get my attention. Geant even had Hidden Valley Ranch the other day, so my needs are now met so good to stay away from that. OH! WAIT! Kraft Tangy Italian Spaghetti! I need that! And Indiana breaded pork tenderloins, those are awesome. And start a Taco Bell, we just got a BW3's so are covered there.

You could send me some Fruit of the Loom boxers and proper Jeans, Hanes will do if you can't find the Fruit.

#1 find a need

#2 find a distribution partner

Good luck.


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## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

I don't want to discourage OP but I am also struggling to think of many foods from the US that I miss. 

I think part of the problem is that the US is itself an immigrant country. So much of what constitutes "American" food is really just a blend of immigrants' favorites from around the world. A lot of American food marketing consists of telling Americans that the food is the same as it is back in the original country. In recent years that is more and more the case. I've noticed for example over the last 25 years or so that the quality, authenticity and variety of American cheeses, beers, wines and bread in particular has gone up dramatically. We are not in the 50s - 70s mid century food nadir anymore. 

The problem for OP is that is all of this is intended to bring US food up to the quality of food available in places like Europe. Since we are in Dubai, you can just as easily get food that actually is from places like Europe, and which is at least as good if not better and probably cheaper. It makes importing American products a bit redundant in my opinion. 

The to me bizarre exception seems to be American mid-century junk from which Americans have largely turned away and now find so retro to be embarrassing. E.g. Tang. Nobody drinks Tang anymore in the US! But here I see it prized enough to be sold in *huge vats*! Same with Spam and "milk bread" which to me looks and tastes just like Wonder Bread (yes, that bad). It's only good with PB&J (OK, I like, PB&J).

However, I have still to find proper Cajun in Dubai.


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

I had an American friend comment on the phenomena you mentioned and he thinks it's because the 1950s-1970s processed food was the first "American" food to be exported to other parts of the world on a sufficient scale, like Coca-Cola, and they had the advantage of being long lasting in harsher climate conditions and not requiring refrigeration, so a whole generation of Filipinos, Indians and Arabs became familiar with those products and it is they who sustain the demand for them out here, not the American expats.

The other problem facing the OP is that the American expat community, while much larger than five or so years ago, is still quite small relative to the British. The markets here can carry British labels because there's the demand for it in quantities large enough to justify importing them. But for American labels, especially the more specialist ones? I don't think that's the case. There's one supermarket called Safestway that carries a whole range of American junk food products including cereals, and they have never found their way into Spinneys or Carrefour, and that tells you what demand exists is already being met. 

For American expats wanting a better quality range of foodstuff, there's already the aforementioned British/Australian exports and those cover pretty much all bases without needing to import from the US. 

American chain restaurants are also booming in Dubai so that market is already covered and seems saturated as it is. 

What Dubai does not have and does seem underserved are discount retailers comparable to Target or Best Buy or whatever the latest incarnations are in the US (it's been nearly ten years since I lived in DC). That is what expats gripe about - affordable decent quality clothing and electronics. But those stores survive on very large quantities of goods with a very high turnover in order to have the discounted prices, and the UAE market is simply not big enough, population-wise, to have the volume of goods that can lead to sharp discounts.



Simey said:


> The to me bizarre exception seems to be American mid-century junk from which Americans have largely turned away and now find so retro to be embarrassing. E.g. Tang. Nobody drinks Tang anymore in the US! But here I see it prized enough to be sold in *huge vats*! Same with Spam and "milk bread" which to me looks and tastes just like Wonder Bread (yes, that bad). It's only good with PB&J (OK, I like, PB&J).
> 
> However, I have still to find proper Cajun in Dubai.


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## ovomustafa (Feb 20, 2014)

TallyHo said:


> I had an American friend comment on the phenomena you mentioned and he thinks it's because the 1950s-1970s processed food was the first "American" food to be exported to other parts of the world on a sufficient scale, like Coca-Cola, and they had the advantage of being long lasting in harsher climate conditions and not requiring refrigeration, so a whole generation of Filipinos, Indians and Arabs became familiar with those products and it is they who sustain the demand for them out here, not the American expats.
> 
> The other problem facing the OP is that the American expat community, while much larger than five or so years ago, is still quite small relative to the British. The markets here can carry British labels because there's the demand for it in quantities large enough to justify importing them. But for American labels, especially the more specialist ones? I don't think that's the case. There's one supermarket called Safestway that carries a whole range of American junk food products including cereals, and they have never found their way into Spinneys or Carrefour, and that tells you what demand exists is already being met.
> 
> ...


I agree. I wasn't intending on importing any food items as well, the market has enough to give the people what they need although some niche items may be missing but the demand is very low.

The UAE is missing stores like Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Etc, the Middle East in general needs stores like those for people to shop with confidence and know they are buying something valuable and of high quality. 

It's hard to buy the simplest things in the UAE sometimes because of so many different stores with different prices, it's not consistent like in the USA or UK as well.


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## Simey (Dec 4, 2012)

ovomustafa said:


> It's hard to buy the simplest things in the UAE sometimes because of so many different stores with different prices, it's not consistent like in the USA or UK as well.


As a consumer used to the US, I don't think the issue in the UAE with retailing is the prices offered or consistency. The issue is availability (or lack thereof) of merchandise. If you see something in a store one week, it's a total crapshoot whether it will be in the same store the next week. Stores here just seem to stock items randomly. 

If you have anything specific in mind you will also end up traveling all over town trying to find it. Hence the popularity of services that let you purchase from overseas. 

Related to this is almost total lack of customer service or engaged staff - though I don't blame them for being disengaged and disinterested given prevailing retail salaries and high turnover. Still, it is very frustrating, even if those conversations with baffled staff are part of Dubai's charm. 

Also, UAE businesses are a good 20 years behind in online commerce for information gathering or purchases. 

Of course, because of online commerce, bricks and mortar stores in the US are going out of business almost entirely. Basically, please just bring Amazon.com here with Amazon Prime free shipping (not through Aramex please), and I will be happy.


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## LesFroggitts (Dec 30, 2013)

ovomustafa said:


> it's not consistent like in the USA or UK as well.


Two ways of reading that...

1). Due to market driven pricing
2). Cartel like price fixing so there's only one group of winners.

I know which I think it is.

There's plenty of opportunities for 'bargains' here in the UAE, but it does mean going away from the usual clutch of global brands, or maybe buying the model prior to the most recent.


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## XDoodlebugger (Jan 24, 2012)

LesFroggitts said:


> Two ways of reading that...
> 
> 1). Due to market driven pricing
> 2). Cartel like price fixing so there's only one group of winners.
> ...


An interesting thing I noticed recently. I purchased a Canon 6D camera a couple of years ago, shopping in the UAE and US. I found US pricing much cheaper so I bought it there. I'm now in the market for a Canon 7D or similar and started price shopping again, UAE prices are now very close to the US pricing and in some cases better.

I also bought a Macbook 12 earlier this year and pricing was not much different than the US. I also purchased a Cadillac SRV recently, again at about US prices.

Trend? Or just a coincidence on my most recent "big" purchases?


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## Chocoholic (Oct 29, 2012)

ovomustafa said:


> Mispelling was accidental. I was typing to quick. Thanks for the heads up!


'I was typing TOO QUICKLY' - you're welcome.


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## Fat Bhoy Tim (Feb 28, 2013)

ovomustafa said:


> The UAE is missing stores like Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Etc, the Middle East in general needs stores like those for people to shop with confidence and know they are buying something valuable and of high quality.


If Walmart opened here I'd definitely have confidence in ... their products being utter crap. Say 'No', to Wally World.


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

XDoodle****** said:


> I also purchased a Cadillac SRV recently, again at about US prices.


SRX ? 

Traditionally the cars with the largest mark-ups over US prices have been the Japanese luxury breed (Lexus, Infiniti) and the Germans. 

American makes have always been at lower mark-ups, and sometimes, as in the Taurus I got few years back, the selling price here was less than the US MSRP, something very rare for any car.


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## Made in Sheffield (Mar 12, 2014)

I know I'm going off on a tangent but I would love Argos to open over here.

Products that don't cost an arm and a leg (but better quality than the cheap local shops), loads of choice, but most of all the chance to see utter bewilderment on the faces of people trying to figure out how to shop in there


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## Dave-o (Aug 23, 2015)

Argos? Why can't they just put the stuff out on the shelves and you take the items you want to the till like any other shop?

I don't like playing guess what's behind the curtain trying to guess what they have in stock. That said, I haven't been in an Argos since I bought a Sony Walkman


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## Made in Sheffield (Mar 12, 2014)

Dave-o said:


> Argos? Why can't they just put the stuff out on the shelves and you take the items you want to the till like any other shop?
> 
> I don't like playing guess what's behind the curtain trying to guess what they have in stock. That said, I haven't been in an Argos since I bought a Sony Walkman


Oooh, it's great. Just like the Generation Game.

Seriously, don't dis Argos. I love that shop


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## Tropicana (Apr 29, 2010)

HCFS or no HCFS, GM or non-Gm, it is just a general rule that run of the mill food, such as the sort you find in airports, tastes better in the UK than in the US


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## XDoodlebugger (Jan 24, 2012)

Tropicana said:


> HCFS or no HCFS, GM or non-Gm, it is just a general rule that run of the mill food, such as the sort you find in airports, tastes better in the UK than in the US


"run of the mill" food in the airports? Sure, OK. I like a lot of food, just had a great time eating my way around Italy. I love Thai food, Indian, Cajun and Tex-Mex but frankly was never impressed with eating in the UK or in eating UK food here. 

Of course this is only to be expected as I am after all an American and you will almost always gravitate to your home type cuisine (the local food you don't get in airports). 

Now pass those mushy peas, no I mean throw those in the garbage where they belong with the other food waste.


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