A new market featuring a selection of exclusively Bahraini products will be held in the far south of the country at Durrat Marina Yacht Club today (January 16).

The Marina Market, from 11am to 7pm, is set to feature up to 50 stalls offering an array of goods from home businesses, including food, fashion and accessories, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

"This is a location away from the traffic of the city, in a beautiful marina environment, for people to enjoy," said Durrat Marina Yacht Club marketing manager Ahmed Zainal.

"It's free to enter and there will be valet services for visitors.

"The vast majority of the stallholders are Bahrainis, with lots of 'cottage industries' selling a variety of things.

"We're trying to provide them with a place to gain good exposure."

A host of free activities for children will also be on offer, including a bouncy castle, cotton candy stall and face painting.

Zeeba's Kitchen founder Zeeba Ryan, 51, said the market was a great opportunity for small businesses to showcase their products.

"We do all sorts, both savoury and sweet, traditional food as well as mini-bites and international food," she said.

"Joining this market is a good opportunity, because I'm looking to expand and tap into markets, and this is a good audience of different age groups.

"We have things for younger age groups, like Elmo and different character cupcakes while we also cater for those on healthy or gluten-free diets."

Fellow stallholder Manal Alkhan, from Raindrops and Roses Fashion, said she was excited about getting closer to her potential customers.

"I personalise frames with crochet names," she said.

"They're made of crochet letters with fabric backgrounds for use in rooms for children and new-born babies.

"The market is great because you get access to people who can see samples of the frames up close and get to know about them more.

"It's nice to be part of a market, I think it's important to have exposure at Bahraini exhibitions."

Meanwhile, Wingman operations manager Sanju Cleetus, whose company makes chicken wings with a variety of sauces, said it was a good way to raise "brand awareness".

"We have 10 different flavours of sauces, including garlic parmesan, Asian zing and Jamaican jerk, both with the bone in and boneless, all made locally in Bahrain," he said.

"We launched about three months ago and our product is available in Tony Luke's, so many people think it's part of the American franchise and therefore we want to raise brand awareness.

"It's a totally Bahraini concept and we want people to know that."

Elsewhere, dessert business Wings Goodies founder Ameena Janahi said the market was the best location she had experienced so far.

"Mine is a home-based mini-business that's all about cookies and sweets, which I started last summer at the Bab Market," she said.

"The Marina Market is the best thing I've taken part in so far, it's so organised and the stands are great.

"I'm making six types of desserts for today and I'll be baking as much as I can." - TradeArabia News Service