Regional review:
India, Middle East and Africa (IMEA)
Revenue
€
456
m
Revenue growth
13.4
%
constant currency1
323
aseptic carton filling machines in field
Key growth drivers
- Geographic expansion
- Growing demand for aseptic solutions driven by population growth and increasing urbanization
- Strong customer base to grow across segments and substrates
- Affordability, innovation and nutrition
“IMEA remains a key growth driver for SIG, as we expand our presence and deliver flexible, sustainable solutions to meet the needs of an increasingly urbanized population. Our continued investment in high-speed filling machines, aseptic packaging, and emerging technologies ensures that we are ready to meet the demands of the future while fostering long-term customer partnerships.”
Abdelghany Eladib
President and General Manager IMEA at SIG
Summary of 2024
The region reported revenue growth of 13.4% for the year at constant currency1.
The Middle East and Africa, experienced strong carton revenue growth for the year driven by the ramp-up of filler placements across the region, as well as a market recovery in Egypt and the GCC.
In India, we continued to experience high double-digit revenue growth as we expand our operations in the country.
As the world's largest milk market2, India consumes predominantly unpackaged milk, with packaged milk accounting for less than 10% of total consumption. This presents a significant growth opportunity, and we are well positioned to capitalize on it.
Our first sleeves production facility in the country, was completed in December 2024 with initial production in January 2025. The Group has approved the next phase of expansion with the construction of a local extrusion line, which is expected to be completed by 2027. The expansion will increase our local capabilities, shorten supply chains and enable local sourcing of raw materials.
Affordability remains a significant challenge across many markets in the region. SIG is well-positioned to provide solutions for these concerns with its volume flexibility, enabling smaller carton pack sizes while maintaining essential price points.
We were delighted to sign a significant number of new contracts for bag-in-box and spouted pouch filling machines in 2024, in many different countries across the region. This was a result of leveraging our cross-selling capabilities across the region.
Case studies
Growing with Amul Dairy
Dr. Amit Vyas, Managing Director of Amul Dairy said, “The dairy market is currently undergoing a massive transition.
The emerging market trends and changing consumer needs make it essential to expand our offering and leverage excellent technologies. The flexibility offered by SIG’s filling lines to fill packages of different volumes on the same filling line makes them an excellent choice for Amul Dairy to meet the growing market needs. The commissioning of two additional state-of-the-art SIG filling lines at Amul Dairy’s Kheda Satellite Dairy plant will help to enhance our packaging capacity and tap into markets with different price points with new product lines.”
In addition to the five SIG aseptic carton lines in operation at Amul we were pleased to sign a contract during the year for sweetened condensed milk in spouted pouch. This is a can to spouted pouch conversion which includes sale of a spouted pouch filling machine and recycle-ready packaging material.
Pioneering with Almarai for 20 years
Almarai is the world’s largest vertically integrated dairy company and the biggest food and beverage manufacturer in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region. Based in Saudi Arabia, it is ranked as the top FMCG brand in MENA and leads all its categories in the GCC3.
Throughout SIG’s long-standing partnership with Almarai, we have introduced innovative products, such as the first-to-market 150ml portion packs for juice, which appealed to consumers and later evolved into a popular 140ml format. In 2021, Almarai was the first to use SIG Asset Health Monitoring, a solution for condition-based maintenance designed to measure the wear and tear of parts and equipment and provide online monitoring to anticipate issues, recommend preventative measures, and offer solutions to optimize availability and reduce unplanned downtime. Earlier in 2008, Almarai was the first to introduce a white cheese delicacy in SIG carton packs. Through these efforts, Almarai has been able to reach diverse consumer segments, expand its market footprint and ensure product quality and the trust of millions of loyal customers.
“The 20-year journey with SIG has been integral to our growth. Hand in hand, we’ve been able to deliver sustainable packaging solutions that enhance the consumer experience and reinforce our joint commitment to innovation and adaptability in packaging solutions across our expanding product lines.”
Ramesh Nair
Head of Central Procurement at Almarai
1 Constant currency and constant resin growth of 13.5%.
2 Source: International Market Analysis Research and Consulting Group (IMARC). Annual production capacity of 221 million tons was recorded in the year 2021–22, contributing 23% of global milk production.
3 GCC is the Gulf Corporation Council including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.