SaudiFood Manufacturing 2026 Exhibitor List

Tony Meghabghab is an ambitious entrepreneur and a leading industrial engineering expert with over 30 years of experience in providing customized automation and connectivity solutions for complex engineering projects, guiding factories on their journey towards Industry 4.0. To materialize his vision, he established MEPEQ, an industrial engineering firm that crafts innovative solutions and consultancy services for manufacturers across industries, leveraging a blend of mechanics, robotics, and human expertise. Intrigued by the limitless possibilities that emerge when human creativity meets technological progress, he has led MEPEQ with a unique mindset, redefining the concept of HuMachine—emphasizing the synergetic role of humans and machines, ensuring neither overshadows the other. With a deep understanding of the ever-evolving business landscape, he has built a human-centric and agile company, fostering a culture of continuous learning and empowerment. Meghabghab takes pride in creating an educational environment that enables his team to exceed customer expectations and deliver state-of-the-art, world-standard solutions. Committed to lifelong learning, he continually expands his expertise and contributes to the industry as a thought leader, writing articles on industrial engineering and speaking at global conferences.

Jean Zakka, third-generation CEO of Zakka Multitec, has propelled the family business to new heights after 8 decades. Under his dynamic leadership, Zakka Multitec has tripled in size, established subsidiaries in 10 countries across the MEA, EU and Africa, and secured partnerships with over 80 European brands. This includes a strategic move to the UK headquarters, and the creation of Zakka Industries, their in-house engineering and manufacturing arm. Jean's entrepreneurial spirit, combined with a deep passion for industrial processing and packaging, has been instrumental in solidifying Zakka Multitec's position as a single-source industry leader. "Our commitment to innovation and customer success has fuelled our growth," says Jean. "When you choose to partner with us, you are choosing for the long term, for decades to come.”

Sumit Malik is a passionate culinarian who has built his career supporting & inspiring food manufacturers product and packaging development through to manufacturing strategy, waste reduction and sustainability. Whether it’s crafting new culinary concepts, optimizing manufacturing processes, or leveraging cutting-edge market research, he has crafted product solutions that helped businesses in the UK & the Middle East stay ahead in the ever-evolving food landscape. As all great recipes start in the kitchen not the office, Sumit trained as a Chef at Oberoi Center of Learning & Development & furthered his education with a Strategy MBA & True Lean training from Toyota/University of Kentucky. This skillset has been the foundation on which a successful career in the manufacturing of chilled & uber-fresh meal solutions was built. His drive and passion for Real Food has taken him on a journey spanning companies such as Noon, Kerry & Pilgrims (JBS) and Al Hatab. This forward thinking, dynamic pragmatist has a natural instinct for the “next big thing”. His experience in long and short-term product portfolio development which aligns with consumer and customer needs, as well as being commercially profitable, has served him well in managing large multi-disciplinary teams in numerous categories. Creating award winning ranges using only store cupboard ingredients for the likes of M&S, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose… & D2C and B2B for QSR’s in UK & further afield. His current role in Al Hatab sees him establishing the groups R&D function across the stores & the three state of the art manufacturing sites in Saudi Arabia ranging from bakery, ready meals to juices & marinated meats and every fresh category in between.

Walid Bakr is Head of Strategy & Business Development for the Middle East & Africa region for Bühler Group. Bühler Group is the leading global provider of food processing & advanced materials equipment & technologies. Bühler impacts every aspect of our everyday life, with over 2 billion people consuming foods daily that were processed on Bühler equipment. Prior to joining Bühler, Walid has been a career investment professional with over 25 years of experience in investment, finance, management and operational roles across the Middle East, Europe, and the USA. His expertise and responsibilities span investments, business development and value creation. His operational and entrepreneurial background enrich his strategic insights and management support. Walid structured and developed successful investment strategies and platforms across a wide range of industries including healthcare, education, and financial services among others. Prior to joining Bühler, Walid served as CEO of Five Stars Group (Egypt’s largest milling group), which he has successfully led the acquisition thereof in 2022. Prior to that, Walid has been a Managing Director with the Abraaj Group ($14 Bln AUM), where he led Abraaj’s Egyptian operations and was a senior member of the MENA investment team. During his tenure he led one of the most successful investment portfolios in Egypt with over USD 1+ Bln of NAV, and 2 highly successful public listings. Prior to that he was a director with Riyada Ventures (A boutique regional investment bank), and previously Managing Director of Technology Development Fund (TDF, Egypt’s 1st VC fund). He started his career with AT&T in Kuwait and moved on to manage and establish several technology companies in France and the US. Walid served, and continues to serve, as a director on the boards of local and regional companies across Egypt, UAE, and Jordan. He also served as a director on several public companies including ANMC (AMES.EGX), CHG, Egypt’s largest healthcare group (CLHO.EGX) as well as Egypt’s largest education group CIRA (CIRA.EGX). Walid is actively engaged with education and entrepreneurship initiatives in Egypt. He’s an active angel investor and startup mentor. Walid has been selected as an Eisenhower Fellow in 2017 and a Kauffman Fellow in 2013. He holds a BSc in Engineering with top honors from Alexandria University.

Kristin is a purpose-driven industry leader dedicated to tackling food security, food waste, and circular economics to ensure a sustainable global food system. With over 30 years of FMCG & seafood industry leadership, he has held senior roles at Nomad Foods, Regal Springs, Grobest, and eFishery, gaining deep expertise across the value chain—from farms to processors and retailers. As CEO & Founder of Karmic Global, Kristin and is pioneering solutions to eliminate food waste by upcycling seafood industry byproducts into biopolymers with activated nanoparticles. These innovations extend the shelf life of fresh produce, extend crop yields, reduce reliance on plastics and save logistics costs while promoting full circularity in food supply chains. Kristin serves as a Board Trustee at the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, chairing its Strategy & Policy Committee, and was previously a board member at the Global Shrimp Council. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce – Marketing from the University of Western Sydney.

A business leader who’s confident to challenge the status quo and guide any organization from failure to success and prosperity. My expertise in the FMCG industry as a growth builder was centered on boosting top-line sales while maintaining operational costs to increase margins and bottom-line profits.

Alex is a leader in the global B2B ingredients industry and a pioneer in the alternative protein sector. After a long career in the B2B ingredients industry, he led the development of Asia’s first Protein Innovation Centre and followed an entrepreneurial path to spearhead the global expansion of a plant-based meat startup, driving its international sales and operations. Today, as the founder and CEO of a specialised consultancy, Alex advises scale-ups, investors, and governments on food, nutrition, and the commercialisation of breakthrough technologies. His expertise spans international investment strategy, B2B sales, product innovation, regulatory leadership, and government relations. He partners with industry leaders in plant-based and cultivated meat, functional foods, and agricultural waste stream upcycling to accelerate growth and innovation in the future of food.

Cyril is a senior business strategist specializing in agri-food innovation with over 20 years of experience. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and has been a CPA for over 10 years. He shares his passion for entrepreneurship as a mentor to the next generation of agri-food entrepreneurs at the Fondation Initia in Québec. Recognized for his expertise in promoting specialty food products and high-end international gastronomy, Cyril was named "Sourceur de l'année" by the prestigious Omnivore Festival in Paris. His innovative food product designs have garnered multiple prestigious awards, attesting to their exceptional quality and creativity. As recognized by renowned chefs in North America, Cyril's innovations stand at the forefront of the culinary world.

Dominik has extensive expertise in ingredients, biotechnology, and the food industry, having led innovation and market expansion at Cargill and DSM. With a deep understanding of protein functionality, formulation challenges, and industry bottlenecks, he realized that traditional R&D approaches in alternative proteins were too slow, expensive, and inefficient to meet market demands. Recognizing that AI is the solution, he founded AI Bobby, a cutting-edge AI platform designed to transform protein development. Unlike conventional methods that have spent over 20 years and $20 billion with limited success, AI Bobby leverages generative AI and deep learning to predict and optimize protein functionalities at an unprecedented speed and accuracy. With exclusive access to the highest-quality protein datasets from San Diego University, INRAE, NCFIL, KAUST, and more, and AI models fine-tuned by domain experts, AI Bobby enables faster, more cost-effective innovation. The platform addresses taste, texture, stability, and scalability, making alternative proteins viable and competitive. Backed by top investors and leading scientific partnerships, AI Bobby is positioned to reshape the future of sustainable protein development, ensuring that alternative proteins are optimized, scalable, and ready for global adoption.