Pukka Pads and Ohh Deer both exhibited for the first time at the ever-expanding Paperworld trade show in Dubai.
The largest edition of Paperworld Middle East took place over 12-14 November at the Dubai Trade Centre, attracting over 12,000 visitors and 615 exhibitors from 39 countries, including visitors and exhibitors from the UK and Europe.
Stationer and greeting card publisher, Ohh Deer exhibited for the first time, with co-founder Mark Callaby commenting: “It was a nice show, very similar to other shows that we do. We were told that our products may not be a great fit for the market but we didn’t experience this. There were definitely some sensitivities but we found that the market was actually quite diverse and visitors from outside the UAE as well.
“We were also shortlisted for one of the Paperworld Awards, missing out to Moleskine, for our Cath Kidston collection. My only real grumble for the show was the lack of air conditioning during the build. I’m not sure I’ve ever sweated so much in my life!
“This was our final show for the year and our tenth one. We start 2025 with a bang where we’re doing eight shows in six weeks.”
It was also the first time exhibiting for Pukka Pads, which exhibited as Pukka Global Sourcing (its sourcing company). Jessica Stott, e-commerce and marketing director said: “It was a great show and was of a huge scale, with multiple halls for stationery, office products, packaging, school supplies and more. There was a huge range of exhibitors and visitors, from a large range of countries covering UAE, Europe, Asia, Africa and ROW.”
Snopake’s network manager, Safeer Zaman was on holiday in Dubai but decided to attend the show for one day. “The show definitely took us by surprise by the size and number of exhibitors,” she said. “It was on par with Frankfurt Paperworld and seems to be growing each year according to some of the people we met there. UAE has grown massively over the years. I went 10 years ago, and the changes in everything shocked me.
“The diversity of the show was something spectacular, people from all over the world attending and exhibiting. It is similar to Frankfurt but a lot of new faces and businesses attended this year.”
Another visitor was Susanna Noguer, commercial manager of Factis S.A who had been to the show twice before. “Last year we had a stand, but this year we didn’t. The Fair is growing bigger every year, and we plan to exhibit again in a couple of years when it becomes more established and attracts a larger international audience. It still needs to draw more attention from European visitors. African visitors have started travelling to Dubai and I believe there will be a significant increase in visitors from CIS countries in 2025.”
