Sweden’s Tetra Pak reports significant developments in its business in the Middle East region, including possible expansion in capacity within the next few years to keep pace with rising demand for packaging products.

Tetra Pak started its operation in the Middle East in Lebanon in 1964 with the installation of the first Tetra Classic Aseptic machine outside of Europe.  For four decades, Tetra Pak continued its expansion into other markets and the company has been growing from strength to strength.
“In 2003, our customers grew their volumes with us by a fantastic 25 per cent,” says Francis Goodenday, vice president for the Greater Middle East region and concurrently managing director of Tetra Pak Gulf.
Goodenday attributes the company’s continued growth to innovation, new products and the growing interest in the convenience of long life products. 
“We’re seeing strong growth in all markets, particularly Yemen, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. There has been a steady shift in places like Egypt, Pakistan and Yemen from street milk to packaged milk.”
In Iran for instance, the school milk program is beginning to take off.  This development will boost the consumption of long life milk in a market where unpacked milk is approximately 75 per cent of the market.
And while many would think that the Iraq market is closed following an escalation of hostilities there, this has not been the case as regards the dairy and juice business.
“Industry players have started to bring in packaged juices and milk from other countries in the Gulf region. The dairy and juice industry is gradually getting on its feet, although it will be a long time before Iraq will be self-sufficient,” commented Goodenday.
To keep pace with growing demand, Tetra Pak will have no alternative but to expand capacity.
“At some stage in the next few years we will need to look at expanding our production capacity - by setting up new facilities or building on existing ones,” says Goodenday. Tetra Pak’s Middle East facilities for packaging material productions are in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), Lahore (Pakistan) and Izmir (Turkey). Production is about 10 billion packs per year, with the Jeddah factory having the biggest output, close to two thirds of the total.
Packs selling most are those for dairy and fruit beverages, with tomato paste following up.
Most of the Tetra Pak machines in operation come from Sweden and Italy.  In one of its best recent achievements, the company successfully developed a high-speed packaging machine.  It currently holds the distinction of being the fastest carton-packaging machine in the world in its category. 
“When TBA/22 was released in 2001, it created an entirely new standard of capacity in the aseptic packaging of liquid food,” Goodenday said. “Today it provides a highly competitive solution for portion packages, achieving lower operating costs, higher productivity and greater space efficiency. The capacity is remarkable: 20,000 packages per hour for most Tetra Brik Aseptic portion packs.”
At the end of this year, Tetra Pak will be celebrating 10 years of its presence in the Jebel Ali Free Zone.  
The Dubai offices are moving with the construction of a new building in Jebel Ali Free Zone.  The new building will house administrative and commercial functions, including technical and processing operations. 
This development clearly marks the company’s commitment to the industry in the region, remaining true to its global policy of localising its operation whenever and wherever possible in order to be more accessible to its customers in particular and to the industry in general.  It further affirms Tetra Pak’s continued support for the local economy and its confidence in Dubai as the trading hub of the Middle East.
“In today’s business world, speed is of high importance - and Jebel Ali no doubt provides this benefit by letting you set up and operate a business with ease.  The well-managed services and lack of bureaucracy helps us focus on our business objectives.  It’s definitely world class.  They deserve a lot of credit for that,” commented Goodenday.
Tetra Pak works for and with their customers to provide preferred processing and packaging solutions for food.  The company applies commitment to innovation, understanding of consumer needs and relationships with suppliers to deliver these solutions, wherever and whenever food is consumed.  Tetra Pak is committed to making food safe and available, everywhere.
Operating in more than 165 markets with 20,900 employees, Tetra Pak believes in responsible industry leadership, creating profitable growth in harmony with environmental sustainability and good corporate citizenship.