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Dubai: Longer shipping times caused by regional disruptions are forcing Gulf food and beverage producers to rethink how products are processed, packaged and distributed, as companies grapple with shrinking shelf life and the rising cost of maintaining refrigerated supply chains.
Shipments that previously took around 35 days to reach their destination can now take closer to 55 days from some major ports, potentially eating up an additional 20 days of a product’s commercial shelf life, according to Abdelghany Eladib, President and General Manager for India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) at SIG Group.
Higher wastage
For food producers, the consequences can range from higher wastage and discounting to products having to be frozen or repurposed before they can be sold.
“The sector has adapted well operationally, but the recent period has exposed where one of the real vulnerabilities sits, and it isn’t only in logistics. It’s in how much shelf life a product has left by the time it reaches the market,” Eladib told Gulf News.
He said a chilled product with a shelf life of 120 days could lose a significant part of its commercial window when shipping time rises from about 35 to 55 days. “That can translate into higher shrinkage, more product being repurposed or frozen, and unplanned margin pressure,” he said.
The problem is particularly acute on some routes into Africa, while delays can also affect raw materials being imported into Gulf manufacturing hubs.
Rerouting cannot solve everything
Companies have responded to disruption by using alternative ports and shipping routes. But Eladib said rerouting alone does not address the underlying shelf life problem.
“Rerouting buys you continuity; it doesn’t necessarily buy you time. Every additional day still comes out of the product’s available shelf life,” he said.
That is prompting food manufacturers to look more closely at shelf-stable products and aseptic processing and packaging, which can reduce dependence on refrigeration before a product is opened.
In aseptic production, food or beverages and their packaging are sterilised separately before being combined in a sterile environment. The process allows products to remain shelf-stable for extended periods without refrigeration before opening or the addition of preservatives.
Eladib said this could give Gulf manufacturers more flexibility when facing unpredictable shipping schedules while also opening up markets that are difficult or expensive to reach through a continuous cold chain.
“A manufacturer in the Gulf region can reach markets across Africa, the Levant and beyond that can be much more challenging to serve when everything depends on an uninterrupted cold chain,” he said.
Reducing refrigeration requirements could be particularly significant in the Gulf because cold storage and refrigerated transport are both costly and energy-intensive.
Rethinking pack sizes
Manufacturers are also examining pack sizes, formats and filling technologies as they seek to reduce product losses and respond more quickly to changes in consumer demand. Aseptic cartons can range from small single-serve packs to larger family-sized formats, while some filling systems allow different sizes to be produced on the same machine. The shift, however, comes with costs.
Eladib acknowledged that processing and filling equipment can require higher upfront investment, but said producers increasingly need to calculate costs across the entire supply chain rather than focusing only on the factory.
“When you factor in longer product shelf life, reduced write-offs, less pressure to discount short-dated stock, no cold-chain requirements and greater distribution reach, the business case can look very different,” he said.
Local manufacturing gathers pace
The changes come as the Gulf continues to expand local food and beverage manufacturing, a trend Eladib expects to accelerate over the next two to three years.
Rather than multinational companies simply moving entire manufacturing operations to the region, he said many are adding Gulf production capacity as demand, regulation and the business environment make local manufacturing increasingly viable.
But production lines alone will not be enough, he argued.
Local packaging
The region will also need stronger local packaging supply chains, technical services, spare-parts availability and skilled operators, alongside facilities that allow companies to develop and test new products locally. SIG, for example, operates a Product Innovation and Application Hub at its regional headquarters in Dubai, where manufacturers can develop recipes, test processing and filling, and produce smaller batches before committing to commercial-scale production.
“A filling line gives you capacity; innovation capability allows you to create the right product for the market,” Eladib said.
Recycling remains a challenge
Eladib said extended producer responsibility regulations could help accelerate change, but rules alone would not be sufficient without effective collection systems, sorting facilities, recycling capacity and stronger consumer participation.
Packaging manufacturers are developing materials aimed at reducing environmental impact, including increasing the proportion of paper and improving recyclability. But recyclable packaging delivers limited benefits if infrastructure is not available to collect and process it, he said.
Looking ahead, Eladib expects local production, product innovation, longer shelf life technologies and lower-impact packaging to become increasingly interconnected. The changes could also reshape the export ambitions of Gulf food producers.
“Once products are less dependent on continuous refrigeration, manufacturers can potentially reach secondary cities, remote areas and overseas destinations where cold-chain distribution has previously been difficult or uneconomical,” he concluded.
