Table of Contents
As someone who has worked in the glass packaging industry for over 20 years and represented Newray at this exhibition, I brought back many insightful observations, trends, and opportunities. Below, from a professional producer’s perspective, I’ve compiled these insights for reference in food and beverage brand marketing, production strategies, and customer development.
1. The scale and status of the exhibition have been further enhanced
The first impression of attending this year’s Gulfood Manufacturing is its sheer scale—there are more exhibitors, visitors, and national teams than ever before. Official data shows approximately 2,500 exhibitors from 79 countries, occupying 21 pavilions and covering the entire value chain from ingredients, processing, and packaging to supply chain solutions.
This means:
Glass packaging suppliers (such as Newray) have more opportunities to engage with customers across the entire supply chain at global food and beverage and packaging summits. The three-day event attracted a diverse range of attendees, including brands of all sizes from neighboring countries, all hoping to gain access to cutting-edge industry information. Dubai’s unique geographical location, allowing it to reach the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, and even South Asia, is making it a crucial hub for global food processing and packaging.
Therefore, this exhibition is not only a product showcase for our glass packaging company, but also a platform for trend insights, standard merchants and customers, upstream and downstream brands, and different groups to connect.
2. Smart manufacturing and sustainable packaging have become key terms
At the event, I observed two frequently used terms: “smart manufacturing” and “sustainable packaging .” Many exhibitors emphasized IoT + AI, flexible manufacturing, modular production, and reducing waste, carbon footprint, and energy consumption when showcasing processing equipment and packaging machinery.
My impression is that machines are becoming increasingly intelligent, and one-stop packaging solutions are becoming a trend. Creating greater convenience and more complete packaging solutions for customers is a trend across brands.
For Newray Glass Packaging, this international stage allows us to better showcase our advantages.
First and foremost, the stability and safety of traditional glass packaging remains paramount (especially for glass food bottles, beverage glass bottles, condiment and spices jars, and other food packaging in glass).
Secondly, we also need to emphasize how we integrate intelligent manufacturing, digital quality monitoring, and energy conservation and emission reduction to demonstrate the social responsibility and value of our glass factory . We cannot simply say “we are a long-established China glass bottle manufacturer,” but also “how we leverage smart factories to improve energy consumption and waste rates.”
Customers are increasingly emphasizing “environmental protection and low carbon” requirements . Our experts and technicians need to be bolder in their experimentation and innovation in areas such as packaging material selection, glass bottle weight reduction, and environmentally friendly raw materials (e.g., high proportion of glass scrap) to cope with market changes and competition. Newray also invests heavily in research in this area every year, and currently enjoys a leading advantage in lightweight glass packaging bottle production capabilities within the global consumer packaging glass bottle industry.
3. Upstream users reinforce the concept that "packaging equals value creation"
Many food and beverage brands at trade shows use packaging as a way to showcase their “brand value,” not just as a container. For example, they discuss packaging differentiation, branding, fun, visualization, safety (food contact materials), convenience, and recyclability.
For Newray , this means packaging isn’t just about “producing and delivering glass bottles”; it can also be a vehicle for empowering clients’ brand value.
For example:
For many wine glass bottles , it’s not just about “looking good,” but also about “how to help the brand stand out on the shelf,” “how to make consumers feel that the product is more premium,” “how to meet environmental regulations ,” and ” whether it is possible to recycle and reuse them . “
For custom glass packaging bottles and jars, Newray has a professional design team that can not only make bold innovations from drawings to high-quality molds and digital management of production , but also highlight selling points such as ” safe and intelligent production”, “customized delivery time”, ” low pollution and high purification “, “high recycled glass content” and ” lightweight leader ” in the glass factory and supply chain.
4. Strong market opportunities in the Middle East and Africa, highlighting its status as a logistics and trade hub
The exhibition information mentioned that the global supply chain, shrouded in uncertainty, is being reshaped, and the Middle East (especially the UAE), with its open trade policies, strong logistics hub status, and advantageous geographical location, has become a target for many manufacturers.
Newray has also consistently focused on blue ocean markets such as the Middle East and Africa .
In recent years , the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia markets can be considered key growth areas. We should not only serve Europe and the United States, but also actively expand into the EMEA region. Newray has been gradually increasing its investment and support in these regions since 2019, and has already achieved some results. Customers in these regions accounted for 12% of Newray’s total foreign trade customer output in 2024, and are expected to exceed 20% in 2025.
Highlighting our experience in food and beverage packaging for the Middle East/Africa and our customer base in the UAE/Saudi Arabia/Egypt in our marketing materials will be a plus. Our logistics team can arrange delivery to the customer’s destination port in all regions, and in some areas we can provide door-to-door sea and air freight services, minimizing the hassle for our customers.
Logistics efficiency, delivery time, local agents, and local certifications (such as halal packaging and GCC market standards) may be more sensitive than in European and American markets, so preparing in advance will be advantageous.
5. Challenges and Accelerating Signals for Glass Packaging Companies
While there are many opportunities, the challenges are also obvious:
Competition is intensifying: packaging materials are becoming increasingly diverse (plastics, high-barrier films, metals, glass) – glass must continue to strengthen its core advantages: safety, non-migration, environmental friendliness, and a premium feel.
The glass packaging industry should be confident in this regard, as many regions are now focusing on environmental protection. For example, from January 1, 2026 , the UAE will implement a nationwide ban on single-use plastic products, including plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic tableware, and food containers. For glass bottle manufacturers and suppliers, this presents a significant transformation opportunity —the shortage of plastic packaging , the push for environmental regulations , and shifting market demands will likely make glass bottles the mainstream choice .
Newray is already producing a large quantity of glass water bottles and shipping them to the Middle East and Europe. Many new products are also in the research and development/prototyping stage.
Customers have higher requirements, such as “food contact safety”, “lightweight”, “high recyclability”, “low-carbon production”, and “customization” – all of which mean that we need to make advance arrangements in production, materials, logistics, after-sales service and other aspects.
Accelerated investment in technology: intelligent manufacturing, data monitoring, energy conservation and emission reduction, waste recycling, and digital quality management systems are not things to be done in the future, but things to be considered now , and these are also the main investment directions of Newray’s management at present .
In other words, Newray cannot rely solely on traditional experience like “I’ve been making glass for 50 years,” but must also say “My 50 years of experience + intelligent manufacturing + customized services + environmental advantages.”
6. Customization trends and "packaging as an experience" are becoming more important
At the trade show, food and beverage brands increasingly valued the “packaging experience”—from the bottle opening and cap design to visual appeal, interactive labels, and reusable/refillable designs.
For Newray, this means we need to emphasize this even more in our future marketing efforts .
Our customization services (such as bottle shapes : glass spirit bottles, perfume glass bottles, water glass bottles, grinder bottles, spice sprinkler bottles, special-shaped bottles) emphasize “this is part of the brand story” and involve us in the design of new brand bottle shapes, rather than simply asking clients to provide drawings and saying “we can make the shape”.
Our deep processing workshop achieve 8-color screen printing in one go?” to the customer proposal.
How do we make our custom wine bottles so colorful and eye-catching?
What other new technological innovations can we use to achieve what kind of deep processing effects?
Certification or standard compliance (e.g., food contact safety, glass compliance, production environment certification).
We have already begun to compile our capabilities (such as annual bottle production capacity, minimum order quantity, mold development cycle, and delivery cycle) into information packages, PPT presentations, or handbooks to be quickly provided at the exhibition.
In our marketing efforts, we will place greater emphasis on the entire process from mold design to sample production, trial production, and mass production, showcasing our ability to provide one-stop service. This aligns perfectly with the trend of users seeking “fewer suppliers and comprehensive services.”
7. Data and case studies form the basis of trust
Actual data and case studies form the basis of trust.
I’ve noticed that many clients at trade shows are shifting their questions from “Can you make this bottle?” to “What is the carbon footprint of your bottle? What percentage of the glass can you provide recycled? Can you provide some case studies? What is your annual production volume in tons? Do you export to our country? I want a water bottle; can you provide me with design options? I’m currently using plastic, but I want to upgrade my brand image by switching to glass; can you provide me with options? “
This more open-ended demand requires us to cultivate a deeper understanding of the industry, rather than simply selling bottles. More professional clients also give us greater hope for this and future exhibitions. Open-ended questions better test our team’s design and development capabilities, market insight, and ability to proactively provide clients with more bottle design references, market guidance, and future trend insights. This allows us to offer more services and implicit value to various brands.
Conclusion
From this trip to Dubai, I’ve seen new opportunities in the glass packaging industry in the medium to long term, and I’ve also recognized the accelerating pace of change. For Newray, this exhibition isn’t just a “one-time visit,” but rather a “stepping stone”—a leap into a new phase characterized by “smart + customized + environmentally friendly” solutions.
In the coming years, if we can combine our “50 years of experience” with “intelligent manufacturing,” “green packaging,” and “global customer network,” and truly make customers think of “efficiency,” “differentiation,” and “environmental protection” when using our bottles, then we will be more than just a bottle supplier; we will be a strategic partner in brand packaging.
