Building Resilient Supply Chains
Consumer goods supply chains across the Middle East are evolving rapidly, creating new opportunities while increasing the need for greater flexibility, visibility and resilience.
Tushar Sharan, Consumer Goods Vertical Sales Director IMEA at Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, shares how businesses can build agile, multi-gateway logistics models that support product availability, strengthen supply chain visibility and protect brand equity across fast-changing markets.
GSC: As Head of the Consumer Goods vertical at Hellmann IMEA, what are your key responsibilities, and what strategic priorities are shaping your leadership today?
Tushar Sharan: Consumer goods is an extremely dynamic sector, with high pressure on margins for our clients. Across the region, we work with a very diverse range of consumer goods customers, from FMCG, beauty and personal care brands to beverage, pet food and regional distributors. Each has different supply chain priorities, whether that is inventory management, promotional cycles, reducing logistics spent as part of overall COGs, product availability or working capital.
My primary role is to grow our consumer goods vertical, ensuring that we create solutions that align with the evolution of the industry. My priority is to first understand what really matters to each customer and how their supply chain works end to end, and then develop scalable, tailored solutions around their specific business needs. It is not simply about moving goods from A to B; it is about helping customers make their supply chains more efficient, resilient and competitive by strengthening visibility, improving operational efficiency and addressing the challenges that matter most to their business.
Ultimately, it is about building trusted, long-term relationships with partners who know they can rely on us. At Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, this is deeply rooted in our culture and reflected in our Hellmann Promise, where “Relationship Matters” is our meta value. We believe relationships are the ultimate currency.
GSC: What defining trends in logistics are shaping the consumer goods logistics landscape in the Middle East region, and how is Hellmann positioning itself to stay ahead of these shifts?
Tushar Sharan: The Middle East logistics landscape is changing rapidly. While Dubai/ Abu Dhabi was traditionally seen as the main gateway to the Middle East and Africa, customers today are looking at multiple gateways, including Jeddah, KAP, Khor Fakkan, Salalah, Fujairah, Egypt and Jordan.
Speed and flexibility have also become critical. Forecasts change quickly, routings need to adapt, and customers expect to understand not only when a shipment is delayed, but why, what the business impact is, and what alternatives are available. Customers are no longer asking for one routing; they want two or three viable options across different gateways, so they can adapt quickly when market conditions change.
Thanks to Hellmann’s global network, deep industry expertise and highly customized approach, we can provide the flexibility customers need in a constantly changing market. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, we connect different gateways, modes and capabilities to build tailored logistics solutions around each customer’s specific needs.
GSC: With ongoing geopolitical and supply chain disruptions across the Middle East, what are the biggest challenges your consumer goods clients are facing right now?
Tushar Sharan: I think the biggest challenge today is not disruption itself, but uncertainty. Businesses can usually plan around known increases in transit times or costs, as we saw when supply chains were adjusted following the shift to routes around the Cape of Good Hope. What is much harder to manage is when routes, capacity, lead times and freight rates continue to change due to factors beyond their control.
For consumer goods companies, this uncertainty has a direct commercial impact. Carry too little inventory and you risk losing sales; carry too much and you tie up working capital and increase costs. As a result, the conversation with customers is shifting from “What is the cheapest or fastest route?” to “What is the most resilient and reliable supply chain design?” We are clearly seeing a move away from simply prioritizing speed towards prioritizing consistency and reliability.
In the consumer goods world, a delayed Consumer Goods becomes extremely important. For example, high-volume base products may clearly be best suited to sea freight; however, for a new product launch, a promotional SKU, or inventory at risk of stocking out, air freight may actually be the more commercially sensible option. So, rather than looking purely at the freight rate, we look at the total cost to serve and total cost of ownership.
For consumer goods, getting that balance right can have a significant impact on both profitability and service levels. It is all about finding the right speed to market and the right route to market for each customer.
More on this story can be found here: https://globalsupplychainme.com/digital-issues-2026/oct-2026/
