Last month saw the region’s F&B industry professionals — along with the rest of the world — buzzing with news of the flight bans to and from northern Europe.

Aviation authorities across northern Europe were forced to close their airspace when an ash cloud from Iceland’s volcanic eruption started shifting across Europe.

The impact of the ban on the F&B industry was of course that food imports ground to a halt, with no fresh deliveries from the affected region for over a week.

However what it also did, if you’ll excuse the pun, was to ‘smoke out’ those supplier companies without decent contingency plans and methods for organising their delayed deliveries efficiently and with minimum fuss once the flights situation had been resolved.

Obviously the ban itself was no one’s fault; it was a natural disaster, something which had to run its course, and so I gather supplier-chef relations remained very civilised for the duration.

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F&B distributors united with their customers in a show of solidarity, suggesting alternative options wherever possible, while the region’s chefs — not a group known for their patience when it comes to the late delivery of essential supplies — drew on their creative resources to revise menus where necessary and make the best of what was available.

But the aftermath of this episode, when the massive global backlog not only comprised hoardes of passengers but also mounds of goods for export, highlighted how vital it is for F&B manufacturers and distributors to have an efficient supply chain system in place.

Those firms with their finger on the pulse (and transportation and manpower at the ready) were the first in line to bring the temporarily-scarce European products back to the Middle East market.

Those who were not prepared for this missed a trick, not only to drive revenue but also to show their customers they could be relied upon.

Firms who were on the ball and promptly resumed normal service after the incident have basically proved to purchasers that they believe in efficiency, good planning, and top customer care.

These are the companies that will continue flourish as the Middle East marketplace becomes increasingly competitive, while lesser firms fall by the wayside.