Alcohol brands blocked from Dubai target Abu Dhabi

Alcohol brands blocked from Dubai target Abu Dhabi

Independent alcohol brands blocked from the Dubai market are entering the UAE by breaking into the more open Abu Dhabi market, industry insiders have said. The alcohol market in the UAE is regulated at the emirate level, and each has different levels of access and competition. Dubai’s market is a duopoly. Two distributors – Maritime […]

Dubai is an alcohol duopoly

Reluctance to introduce competition

Abu Dhabi grants more licences

Independent alcohol brands blocked from the Dubai market are entering the UAE by breaking into the more open Abu Dhabi market, industry insiders have said.

The alcohol market in the UAE is regulated at the emirate level, and each has different levels of access and competition.

Dubai’s market is a duopoly. Two distributors – Maritime and Mercantile International (MMI) and African & Eastern – control the majority of supply.

A similar concentration is observed in retail, where many outlets, despite seeming to offer variety, are tied to the same two entities.

NewsletterGet the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week

MMI is a subsidiary of the state-owned Emirates Group, the parent company of Emirates airline and owned by sovereign wealth fund the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

African & Eastern was established more than 60 years ago