Asepto, the aseptic liquid packaging business of USD 1.63-billion UFlex, is preparing to start commercial operations at its greenfield facility at Ain Sokhna, Egypt, by the end of 2026. The USD 126-million plant is Asepto’s second manufacturing base and adds 12 billion packs a year to its installed capacity, taking the combined capacity of its India and Egypt operations to 24 billion packs.
Asepto began in 2017 with no established position in aseptic packaging. Its India operation now provides 12 billion packs of annual capacity and has established an export presence spanning more than 50 countries. Ain Sokhna is the next step in that evolution: not simply a second factory, but a manufacturing and logistics platform designed to bring Asepto closer to customers across MENA, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
Around USD 108 million of the investment had been spent by June 2026, according to Ashwani Sharma, president and CEO, Asepto. Spread across 30 acres, the Ain Sokhna facility is being ramped up in phases, with utilization targeted at 30% in the first full year of commercial production, 60-70% in the second and 100% in the third.
Egypt changes the supply-chain equation
For Asepto, however, the Egypt investment is about more than capacity addition. It changes the company’s ability to serve international markets from a geographically strategic manufacturing base.
“Egypt has a very strategic location,” Sharma said. From Ain Sokhna, GCC and Middle East markets can be reached in 10 days, Africa in about five to 20 days and Europe in roughly 10 days. North America and Latin America can be served in around 30 days, and CIS countries in about 10 days.
The logistics advantage becomes more significant when compared with Asepto’s existing India-centric export model. The company already exports around 35–40% of its Indian production and serves more than 250 customers across over 50 countries. Egypt is intended to complement that network rather than displace India.
“Today, our strategic shift has changed. We have become a multi-location, global, strong global aseptic packaging powerhouse,” Sharma said.
The rationale is also linked to trade access. Egypt offers duty-free access to the GCC and Europe, while its network of trade agreements provides access to a growing number of African markets. For Asepto, this combines shorter physical delivery distances with a potentially more competitive landed cost for customers.
The opportunity is large enough to justify the geographic expansion. Sharma estimates global aseptic packaging demand at around 300 billion packs annually, with dairy, juices and beverages accounting for much of the market.
Designing for higher productivity and lower waste
The Ain Sokhna plant has been designed around the productivity requirements of the regional market. Its two 12-color Heidelberg Boardmaster flexographic lines, each 1,650 mm wide, can operate at speeds of up to 600 metres per minute, with zero-changeover downtime. The production configuration is aimed at addressing two persistent inefficiencies in packaging manufacturing: downtime and material waste during job changes.
The lines incorporate automatic wash-up during production, anilox sleeve changes during production, automatic color changes, and Heidelberg Intellimatch, a contactless offline sleeve and plate scanner. The system also enables precise measurement of printing-plate topography, supporting consistent print quality while reducing setup time and material consumption.
“Typically, when you change from job one to job two, you have to stop the line, change the plate and restart the line,” Sharma explained. “Typically, you are wasting 45 minutes to one hour.” The new configuration allows job changes with minimal interruption, supporting higher productivity and lower waste.
Digital quality control
Quality control is similarly connected to the plant’s digital architecture. Asepto has installed L&W laboratory testing instruments from ABB along with the L&W Lab Management System. Measurements from connected laboratory equipment can be captured automatically and converted into dashboards and real-time reports, giving operators a more immediate view of quality and productivity indicators.
For a packaging operation producing high-barrier structures for sensitive liquid products, that visibility matters. Laboratory data can be linked more closely to process performance, helping the plant identify deviations, improve response times and maintain consistency across production batches.
“We wanted laboratory quality control in Egypt to be more than a measurement exercise. The system gives us a much clearer view of what is happening in the lab and helps connect that information with our wider digitalization objectives,” Sharma said.
Connecting converting, finishing and handling
The plant’s SML extrusion line and IMS high-speed slitters add to the high-throughput manufacturing setup, while automated finishing and material handling bring production visibility deeper into the operation. Reels are barcoded and QR-coded, allowing the system to track their movement to pallets and customers. CSI Madern of the Netherlands supports the plant’s packaging automation, palletizing and material-handling systems, further reducing the need for manual intervention in downstream operations.
The objective is not automation for its own sake, but tighter control over material flow. By connecting converting, finishing, packaging and material handling, Asepto is building a production environment in which material movement and identification are increasingly managed as part of the overall manufacturing system.
Building capability through technology and people
Sharma sees manufacturing performance as a combination of technology, materials and people. “There are three pillars for quality – state-of-the-art machinery, best raw materials and skilled people,” he said.
That third pillar is particularly relevant in Egypt, where Asepto is establishing a new aseptic packaging manufacturing capability. Experienced technical personnel from India are being deployed to train and develop local teams, with the intention of gradually transferring operational responsibility to Egyptian employees.
Making sustainability commercially viable
Sustainability and material recovery form another area of Asepto’s technology development. Its Enzymatic Delamination Technology (EDT) is designed to separate the different material components of used aseptic cartons, including paper fibre, aluminum and polymers. This enables the individual materials to be recovered for further processing and supports improved resource utilization and circularity in carton recovery. Asepto’s development work also extends to the use of recycled materials, alternative fiber-based structures, resource-efficiency measures and technologies for the recovery of used packaging.
But Sharma does not view sustainability as a material-substitution exercise alone. “Packaging material and machine have to be developed together,” he said, pointing to the interaction between barrier structures, sealing technology, machine settings, cost and performance.
That approach reflects a broader view of innovation at Asepto. Sustainability, automation, digitalization, filling technology and supply-chain efficiency are all becoming competitive factors, but they have to work commercially at scale. “Sustainability has to be scalable, economically viable, functional and affordable,” Sharma said.
– The author visited Asepto’s Ain Sokhna plant in Egypt in September 2026
