Europe-based Colep has inked a joint venture with UAE-based Scitra, part of the Albatha Group, to set up an aerosol contract manufacturing operation in the UAE.
The joint venture will operate under the name of Colep Scitra Aerosols.
Colep and Scitra will invest to expand and improve Scitra’s existing aerosol filling plant in Sharjah, aligning it with international standards required by multinational personal care and homecare brands.
The plant will serve markets across the Middle East and in Southern and Eastern Africa.
Peter Ingelse, managing director of Colep’s Consumer Products Division, said the new venture helps Colep serve its international customers with supplies “nearer to their markets”.
Robin Smythe, managing director of Albatha Home and Personal Care, said the collaboration with Colep would bring “world-class manufacturing closer to the market”, with an improved supply chain, shorter lead times, reduced inventory and a faster response to changing demand.
Colep, a RAR Group company, is a global leader in consumer goods packaging and contract manufacturing industries.
With a turnover of €543m in 2012, Colep employs about 3,600 people in Portugal, Brazil, Germany, Poland, Spain, Mexico and the UK.
Scitra, a member of the Albatha Home and Personal Care Group, has been based in the UAE for over 30 years, becoming one of the GCC market’s leading contract manufacturers of home and personal care products.