IAOM MEA 2025 closes the curtains, heads to Cape Town SA for 2026

SAUDI ARABIA – The 35th Annual Conference and Exhibition of the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region concluded in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, marking a successful gathering of industry leaders and experts.

Convened from December 1 to 4, 2025, at the Jeddah Hilton Hotel, the event marked the Kingdom’s inaugural hosting, underscoring its growing prominence as a pivotal gateway for the grain trade and food processing industries in the region.   

As the event draws to a close, organizers have announced that the next edition, IAOM MEA 2026, will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa, marking a return to a venue widely regarded for its strong industry influence. IAOM MEA was hosted in Cairo in 2014.

With over 761 participants, including 229 millers from 79 mills, 88 exhibiting companies with 117 stands, and 156 traders representing 75 companies, the conference served as a critical platform for advancing operational efficiency, sustainability practices, and product innovation in the milling sector.

The forum focused on digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI), supply chain sustainability, and the growing demand for specialized flours reflecting global dietary shifts.

In his opening address, IAOM MEA Regional Director Ali Habaj highlighted the event’s remarkable growth and its role in fostering balanced interactions between suppliers and buyers.

He noted that the strong turnout underlines the depth of the IAOM MEA community and the value of bringing millers, traders, equipment suppliers and solution providers together in one place.

Habaj stressed the necessity of maintaining equilibrium in the industry ecosystem to ensure the conference remains a practical venue for substantive business engagements.

Key thematic focuses included AI applications in grain grading and analysis, strengthening linkages between flour and feed milling, and expanding IAOM MEA’s regional forums across Africa and the Middle East.

These priorities aligned with pressing concerns in food security, educational advancement, and the future trajectory of milling operations.

AI, proteins and system-level thinking

A standout session featured Dr. Ian Roberts, Chief Technology Officer of Bühler Group, who delivered a keynote on reshaping global food systems through protein diversification, AI integration, and industrial-scale upcycling.

Roberts framed his discussion around the planetary boundaries concept, warning that even a complete transition to clean energy would prove insufficient without parallel reforms in food production.

He projected demographic shifts, noting that Africa’s population growth positions the Middle East and Africa as central to future food security challenges.

Emphasizing the dual burden of undernutrition and overnutrition, Roberts advocated for fiber-rich, plant-forward diets based on the EAT-Lancet planetary health model.

He urged the milling industry to reintegrate fiber into products, upgrade staples with plant proteins from sources like soybeans and lentils, and convert side streams, estimated at over one billion tonnes annually from major crops, into valuable nutritional resources.

To unlock the full potential of upcycling and efficiency, Roberts urged the industry to think in systems, not individual machines or unit operations. Optimising a single step, he warned, often sub-optimises the rest of the process.

“This is where good business and sustainability align,” Roberts said. “You improve profitability by using resources better, and you reduce environmental impact at the same time.”

Beyond operational enhancements, Roberts envisioned AI in computational food design, enabling molecular protein profiling and tailored nutritional outcomes.

Roberts call for the milling and grain industry to position itself as an enabler of entrepreneurs, not a barrier.

He warned that established players often “eat” smaller, more fragile companies, absorbing them and effectively crushing their potential. “We need to enable them, we need to get these businesses thriving,” he said.

Fabien Varagnac, Founder of Grains & Flours Insights (France), showed how smarter wheat sourcing can make the difference between simply buying cheap wheat and actually running a profitable mill.

Using real market data, he compared wheats from Argentina, Romania and the United States.

Accoring to him, on paper, the Argentinian wheat looked US$10/tonne cheaper. But once he factored in extraction, tempering behaviour and consistency, the picture changed, and a blended U.S. wheat strategy ended up saving the mill nearly €300,000 over the campaign.

Fabien also highlighted how heterogeneous wheat blends (soft + medium + hard) and non-optimal tempering times can quietly cut extraction by around 0.7 percentage points – equivalent to more than $3/tonne at a $250 wheat price.

Saudi Arabia’s role in regional food security

A high-profile panel, moderated by Dan Basse of AgResource (USA), examined Saudi Arabia’s emerging role as a grain and food security hub for the Red Sea and Gulf regions.

Panelists included Eng. Abdullah Ababtain of First Mills (Saudi Arabia), Mauro Barbieri of SABIL Company (Saudi Arabia), Pieter Defoor of Commo18 (Belgium), and Ahmed ElSebaie of Egyptian Swiss Group.

Discussions traced Saudi Arabia’s shift from domestic wheat production, peaking at 2.5 million tonnes annually using desalinated water, to import reliance with robust strategic stocks.

The privatization of grain logistics and milling, spearheaded by SABIL, was highlighted, with the company managing 14 facilities, including four port terminals and a fifth under construction at Duba.

Since February 2024, SABIL has handled imported wheat distribution to 13 milling companies, and from mid-2026, it will assume sourcing responsibilities. Barbieri noted investments in risk management and digitalization, alongside opening infrastructure to third parties for regional ecosystem support.

Ababtain discussed adaptations in Saudi milling, with domestic flour demand driven by population growth, urbanization, and tourism.

Eng. Abdullah Ababtain, CEO of First Mills, described how Saudi millers are adapting to this new environment.

He emphasised that the transition from government to private milling companies has been smooth, with First Mills’ roughly 7,000 tonnes/day capacity running without disruption through the handover period. 

Speaking to the Miller Magazine, Ababtain confirmed that Saudi mills are already shipping flour to several countries, including Iraq, Syria and Jordan. “We reimburse the subsidy to the government and export at free-market prices,” he explained.

The Kingdom’s 3.5 million tonnes of storage capacity positions it as a regional stabilizer during disruptions.

If Saudi Arabia’s story is about institutional reform and storage, Egypt’s is about shifting origins and market structure.

Ahmed ElSebaie, General Manager of Egyptian Swiss Group, outlined Egypt’s evolving import dynamics, with Russian wheat’s share declining from 74% to 55% and Ukrainian wheat’s share rising to 30-31%, alongside increased private-sector involvement and local production growth.

At the same time, the public sector’s share in milling and distribution has declined, while the private sector has increased its role by about two percentage points compared with last year. Private millers are also becoming more active in flour exports, adding an extra layer of demand and competition.

A key institutional change is the emergence of Future of Egypt (Mostakbal Misr), a unified state trading company that has effectively replaced GASC as the single public buyer of wheat for the subsidy system. 

Trader and broker, Pieter Defoor, Founder & CEO of Commo18 in Belgium addressed pricing challenges amid reduced tender transparency, advocating for origin flexibility in blending wheats from Argentina, Russia, Australia, and Canada to optimize costs and quality.

The IAOM MEA regional leader award

The conference also honored Jamal Al-Hazaa, President and CEO of Al-Hazaa Investment Group, with the IAOM MEA Regional Leader Award 2025.

This accolade recognizes excellence in grain processing, community contributions, capacity building, societal impact through employment and training, and adherence to industry best practices.

Al-Hazaa Group’s operations span modern flour mills, grain storage, feed, pasta, and related facilities in Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, and Iraq, exemplifying commitments to efficiency, quality, and food security.

The award ceremony celebrated Al-Hazaa’s legacy of integrity and intergenerational leadership in milling.

Advancing milling technologies

The trade show displayed the practical machinery and services that will be implemented across regional plants in the coming 12–24 months. Major milling suppliers used LinkedIn and on-site demos to spotlight priorities aligned with conference themes.

Industry players such as Bühler Group, Tanis Technologies, Alapala, Omas, Bastak, and more showcased intelligent technologies for the milling industry.

Bühler Group automation and alternative-protein processing modules, demonstrating how hardware, sensor networks and software combine to enable both efficiency and product diversification. Alapala and its academy promoted training and modern milling lines focused on throughput and product consistency, underscoring the human capital element in technology adoption.

OMAS Industries introduced “Edge” technologies for seamless product changeovers, and Hosokawa Alpine focused on fine milling and protein fractionation.

Mühlenchemie, AIT Ingredients, Pakmaya, CrownZym, and more players emphasised enzyme-based improvers and dough rheology approaches that help mills produce higher-functionality flours for industrial bakers and convenience food manufacturers.

Other exhibitors on the floor, spanning inspection & fumigation services, torque motor upgrades, bulk handling, fine-fractionation mills, and integrated packaging, illustrated how the sector’s value chain is migrating to connected, flexible plants capable of rapid product changeovers and on-demand extraction profiles.

Strategic trends discussed pointed to a shift toward flexible production, with mills adapting to demand for high-extraction and whole grain flours driven by health-conscious consumers.

In closing remarks, Habaj extended gratitude to the organizing committee and team for seamless execution.

He announced Cape Town, South Africa, as the host for the next IAOM MEA conference, marking a return to one of the association’s most memorable host cities.

He recalled that the previous Cape Town meetings left a strong impression on participants and underlined the organisation’s confidence in South Africa as a strategic hub for the regional flour and feed milling industry.

The decision to go back to Cape Town also reflects IAOM MEA’s long-standing commitment to alternating between Middle Eastern and African venues, ensuring that both sub-regions remain at the centre of its activities.

Dates and programme details for the Cape Town conference will be announced in the coming period.

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