Sidel puts sustainability and digitalisation in the spotlight at Gulfood Manufacturing 2021

Taking place from 7-9 November at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Gulfood Manufacturing is the Middle East’s largest food and beverage processing industry event, gathering suppliers from 85 countries. Visitors to the Sidel booth (A4-4 in Hall 4) will discover the company’s latest releases for beverage, food, home and personal care (FHPC) players in the region, with a special focus on sustainability, digitalisation and line performance over time.

The Middle East, Africa and India (MEA&I) region is a dynamic marketplace. Despite the outbreak of COVID-19, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.86% is expected across all beverage categories from 2019 to 2024, equivalent to an additional 12 billion units.[1] While beverage sales volumes are largely dominated by bottled water, carbonated soft drinks (CSD) and liquid dairy products (LDP), the water segment in particular is set to enjoy the highest growth rate in countries such as Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and India within the next two years. 

Owing to the pandemic, personal hygiene and food safety have become a focus for consumers. Therefore, PET as a safe packaging material for FHPC products is set to grow throughout the MEA&I markets with an average CAGR of 6% through 2024.[2] In the food sector, edible oil shows the highest CAGR of 4.4%, and bottled oil accounts for the majority of the market with six billion units. In the region, India represents the biggest market for edible oil with sales value growth of 4.6% until 2024.[3]

Sustainability and digitalisation go hand in hand

Like our customers, Sidel has a constant focus on sustainability. “We have noticed that some countries such as Nigeria in the MEA&I region are implementing various strategies to tackle their waste problems, especially in terms of single-use plastic, whether via plastic bans or increased recycling initiatives. Therefore, we are ready to help our customers with sustainability by increasing the usage of recycled-PET (r-PET), adopting tethered caps and lightweighting,” comments Harbinder Kathuria, Vice President Sales Beverages MEA&I at Sidel.

The travel restrictions caused by the pandemic have hindered many business activities. With Sidel’s Remote Video Assistance (RVA), customers get remote access to an expert’s accurate diagnosis, fast problem-solving and precise assistance in setting and optimising equipment parameters. This also enables us to support installation and start-up remotely with customers. “Across the MEA&I region, we have successfully completed 73 RVA interventions with our customers, which was much appreciated to support their business continuity during these challenging times,” adds Samuel Gobbe, Vice President Services – MEA&I and SEAP.

Another highlight of Sidel’s digital empowerment is Evo-On. This flexible, customisable digital solution can boost efficiency by maximising production uptime and reduce operation costs. It provides a clear overview of line data, and thus customers are able to track inefficiency and react in a timely manner.

Performance driven by advanced smart solutions

At Sidel’s booth, visitors will experience Sidel’s complete line capabilities. Since Sidel is a full solution partner, producers get a thorough understanding of the entire supply chain from Sidel’s flexible, smart solutions that respond to the fast-changing market. “At this year’s show, our offering for still and carbonated bottlers will be the focus. We will demonstrate how the Sidel Super Combi – integrating preform feeding, blowing, labelling, filling/capping and cap feeding in a single smart solution – is able to offer great productivity and quality benefits for customers active in the water industry. This year, we helped our customer Mai Dubai install the Super Combi water line which is the fastest water line in the region. For liquid dairy products as well as juices, isotonics, teas and all sensitive beverages, our unique FDA-approved Sidel Aseptic Combi PredisTM, with its dry preform sterilisation technology, will be another highlight. This solution undeniably responds to market needs for food safety, flexibility, ease of operations and sustainability,” says Harbinder. Aside from beverages, Sidel offers a Combi solution dedicated to edible oil, combining Sidel’s unparalleled blow moulding expertise with Serac’s weight filling and capping know-how.

Other Sidel highlights at the show this year will be Actis™, the proven bottle plasma coating technology, currently accounting for more than five billion bottles produced across the CSD, beer, juices, tea and coffee markets. This technology allows manufacturers to extend the shelf life of a PET bottle by up to five times, while offering significant lightweighting opportunities.

Visitors will also discover how Sidel’s service portfolio helps build, maintain and improve customers’ performance throughout their asset lifecycle, offering high levels of reliability during peak production seasons. Here, the customers’ line can be enhanced by upgrading older, low-performance equipment with reliable, high-performance solutions, such as EasyFEED™, Gebo AQFlex® and OptiFEED®.

[1] Global Data (2021)

[2] Global Data (2021)

[3] Global Data (2021)