A year of milestones for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region

Marking its first full year as an amalgamated region, 2024 was a year of milestones for MLA’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) offices in Dubai, Riyadh and London.

A record-breaking Gulfood attendance set the tone for the year, with tradeshows and exhibitions being key drivers of growth and B2B connection in the region. The Saudi Food Show, International Food and Drink Event UK and SIAL Paris featured a notable Australian presence.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, MLA signed a comprehensive partnership agreement supporting Aussie Meat Academy activations in line with HORECA exhibitions in six countries in the Gulf. The partnership, a first of its kind, delivered activations in Jordan and Riyadh and extends into the New Year, with Kuwait, Oman, Jeddah and Lebanon.  

Supporting these events, the region’s Lambassadors and Aussie Beef Mates reached mass audiences, developing a community of advocates telling the Australian red meat story. In a MENA first, an exclusive workshop and butchery masterclass was held for the advocates. This was an opportunity to grow their skills and experience with Australian beef and lamb, setting up for future activations. The chefs also had the chance to experiment with innovative recipe ideas. The event was captured and later released across MLA’s social media channel suite.  

The region has some of the heaviest social media usage in the world, making it a key consumer touch point for MLA. MLA’s suite of social channels across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok generates consistently high reach and engagement. An evolving content strategy ensures genuine, authentic and providence-driven content sets our product apart from competitors in a fun and engaging way. For example, the Cooking with AI post generated a million views, 2.4 million impressions and 1 million engagements across our platforms.  

Chef Tarek Ibrahim takes on the ‘Cooking with AI’ challenge

Social media platform growth in the UK continues to be a focus for MLA. Continuing to deliver industry-specific content to grow the foundation of the Aussie Beef and Lamb brand will help create advocates in the market. The platform delivers engaging B2B content, showcases events and highlights consistent key messages for media and publishers.  

In a milestone for the UK market, MLA brought together groups of media and influencers to celebrate the first anniversary of the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement. This generated coverage across nine key industry media outlets. Marking the positive shift in sentiment towards Australian beef and lamb, the event showcased the increasing availability of Aussie red meat products in foodservice and retail channels.  

Capping off the year, the signing of the Australia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) highlights the critical importance of trade to the region. Under the agreement, the tariffs on frozen beef and sheepmeat will be eliminated. This will generate new opportunities in the market.