In a standout interpretation of the ‘sense of place’ concept, Dubai confectionery company Al Nassma stole the show at MEADFA by supplementing their recognizable static camel POS display with two actual milking camels from their nearby dairy farm.

 

Delegates were surprised and amused by the innovative activation out on the lawns of the Jumeirah Creekside Hotel – replete with Bedouins hosting a Majlis seating area serving Arabic coffee in the true tradition – which helped generate a surge of social media mentions for the camel milk chocolate brand throughout the conference.

 

In addition to the stunt, Al Nassma contributed bags of confectionery to the event goodie bag and had their latest product, dark chocolate camel milk ice cream, served as part of the lunch buffet on both days.

 

Patrick Dorais, Director of Sales (pictured above with TFWA Managing Director, Alain Maingreaud) says, “There are numerous industry conferences, exhibitions and events throughout the travel retail calendar year but for a Dubai-born and bred brand like Al Nassma, the MEADFA conference plays on our home turf and as such has the most direct relevance to our business.

 

“Being the leading chocolate coming from the city hosting 570+ delegates we obviously wanted to get share of mind in as many ways as possible.”

 

He adds, “This was a fitting close to a record-breaking year, not only for the MEADFA conference but also for Al Nassma as a brand. 2014 saw us obtaining distribution outside of our ‘traditional’ home GCC market into the likes of Vienna, Enfidha, Monastir, Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur international airports, and we look forward in 2015 to developing our global footprint further.

 

“We have proven that our platform as a Halal chocolate within the premium gifting sub-category gives us traction in basically any duty free or travel retail outlet on a global basis and we look forward to announcing the opening of some new doors in the coming months.”