The Middle East textile care market is being eyed up by the major global players for its positive opportunities for growth in years to come. The area is attracting attention thanks to its potential for further development and the ever-rising demand for quality laundry and drycleaning services.
Since 2010, the demand for laundry and drycleaning services in the Middle East has increased significantly. The region has a population of more than 400 million people, and consists of countries such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt and Israel among others. Constantly rising living standards in the region and the overall improvement of the economic situation in most of regional states accounts for the upswing in fortunes. The growth is ongoing despite the existing problems, particularly high inflation rates and the threat of major trade wars, initiated by the Trump administration.
So vibrant are the prospects that the TRSA, the Association for linen rental businesses in the USA has revived plans to launch a Middle East Chapter of the organisation. TRSA CEO Joe Ricci explains: “For clarification, pre-pandemic TRSA began the process of establishing a chapter in the Middle East with an event to launch it scheduled in conjunction with Clean Middle East. We were working with individuals with expertise in the region including NewGen UK (David [TSA UK CEO] and Rob Stevens’s consulting firm) and supplier members operating. The plans were announced at the time but unfortunately the event and subsequent efforts were cancelled.
“Based on discussions with suppliers in the region including consultants, ABS, Jensen and others, we are working to relaunch this effort.”
NewGen UK is a UK consultancy firm with vast experience of both building and operating laundries within both Europe and the Middle East state they are seeing a significant upturn in requests for support since Covid from locations within the Middle East. Robert Stevens, a director of NewGen says:” Generally (but certainly not exclusively), most of the new build projects are coming from Saudi Arabia, some medium to small size along with very large projects based around some of the Mega projects within the Kingdom – Neom, The Red Sea, Amaala to name a few. It is not unusual to be designing laundries circa 1.5m pieces of linen per week and 300k uniforms in the middle of the desert with no utilities which slowly evolve into mega resorts – these are really exciting projects to be involved with.
“Within the more established markets such as Qatar, UAE, Kuwait there is more focus on exit, mergers and acquisition of existing facilities – here NewGen are often engaged to improve the business performance prior to an exit or conversely supporting potential purchasers with Due Diligence. The requests for brand new projects that are not replacing existing facilities in these more mature markets is well down from the peak in 2010 where we built three laundries in three years. What is encouraging for the Middle East commercial laundry industry is that the majority of new build hotels have no ability to process their own linen and uniforms so finally outsource is really their only option and even those with OPL’s now see, where possible, the preferred solution as outsourcing.
“Another recent positive change is that environmental considerations are finally actually being included within the design requirements; before this was often talked about and not delivered. Most projects we get engaged with now actually talk about the three main carbon emission scopes and how they can be reduced, we have even had to do carbon footprint calculation prior to tender. Some of this is being driven by the hotel brands who are very aware of the guests desire to stay in more eco-friendly destinations – the Middle East may not yet be an eco- tourism destination, but it is certainly moving that way.
“The one area that surprisingly has not yet really become widely adopted is the development of Pool Stock linen which must provide a massive market opportunity for one of the existing suppliers to develop and push their brand across the Middle East. It always surprises us that we see all the major hotel brands but as yet none of the major international laundry operators. As one of our straplines states –there has never been a better time to talk laundry and I think that is certainly true over the next few years.”
The market continues to attract the big global players, many of which have significantly strengthened their presence in the region in recent years. One such example is Jensen Group, as YS Wang, managing director Jensen Asia, explains, last year was successful for the company in the Middle East market.
“We had a very successful second half of the year in 2024 and continue to achieve excellent order intake in Q1 – 2025. One of the major contracts we have secured is the project in the Red Sea. We have also received a repeat order from the same company in the beginning of 2025. The project showcased our latest automation in our Jensen flatwork finishing and also Jensen garment sorting and transport system. This project is scheduled for operation in Q3 this year.” He adds that another major contract was signed with the Healthcare Group in Oman which will be one of the largest laundry operators in Oman.
Wang also adds, the company achieved serious growth in the privately owned commercial laundry sector in both B2B and B2C having secured some important contracts for the supply of its equipment for 5-star hotels in the Middle East, with the biggest activities being observed in such countries of the region as Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE. Jensen expects the demand will remain high in years to come and will be primarily observed in the hospitality and healthcare sectors.
Still, a shortage of skilled labour will remain one of the major challenges for the industry in the region, which will limit more active growth.
At the same time other challenges include the shortage of water for washing process, as well as the tightening of regulations on environmental and financial factors.
The Middle East region remains interesting for the German chemicals expert Kreussler. As Christoph Richter, managing director of Kreussler Textile Care says the company puts big hopes on its further development there. According to Richter: “For many years now Kreussler is successfully active in the Middle East professional textile care market, focusing on high demand customers, like palace laundries., for example. For 2024, our main achievement is winning the tender of Emirates Flight Catering service to care for all Emirates airline textiles as well as local hospitality and health care business textiles.”
Richter expects large growth in the Middle East, as, according to him there is a vivid start-up scene with new PTCshop openings and new business models like on-demand-laundries. “The booming hotel industry shows a trend of outsourcing laundry, strengthening the focus on the industrial laundry business, backed further by the high financial power, financial stability and sound investments in new laundry capacity. The important part is to responsibly combine clear ethical standards and equally clear corporate values with the local workforce situation to develop a future-proof, long term stable business.”
Kreussler is not the only global operator, which has accelerated its expansion in the Middle East region in recent years. Similar plans are being implemented by another major player from Germany – Miele Professional. As Pierre Salhab Miele’s head of sales Middle East, business unit professional reveals, the company has achieved some important results in the in recent years. For example, it conducted a successful campaign for high-capacity machines, which was driven by the increased demand for larger, more efficient machines suited to high-volume operations i.e ., palace laundries.
According to Salhab, in recent years the market has shifted in product mix from small-capacity machines to larger capacity machines. As he also added Miele has been able to expand its service channels in the Middle East market in recent years by opening a new channel by engaging with Civil Defense projects in UAE.
Salhab comments:”This initiative involves servicing preexisting machines and offering new machines for different locations, expanding the company’s footprint and establishing new business opportunities in essential service sectors.” Salhab expects a continuous growth in the laundry and drycleaning sector across the region, especially in industrial laundry services. According to him, that will be mainly due to several factors:
- Ongoing expansion in tourism, hospitality, and healthcare sectors: Particularly in countries like UAE and Saudi Arabia, where hotels, hospitals, and large facilities continue to grow.
- Medium-sized businesses are also modernising, creating steady demand for efficient, reliable laundry solutions.
As he also adds, there is a gradual shift towards automation, digitisation, and sustainable practices, which will shape the future of the industry in the region.
However, as Salhab and other market players reveal, a number of serious problems may create serious problems for a further expansion of major players in the region. Among them is primarily ever elevating labour costs along with staff retention difficulties:
In contrast to other markets, currently a significant number of Middle East customers continue to focus on initial investment rather than the total cost of ownership which means that clients especially in medium-sized businesses prefer to focus solely on the initial purchase cost rather than evaluating the total cost of ownership, which includes energy efficiency, maintenance savings, and long-term reliability. This mindset can delay their investment in high-quality, energy-efficient equipment.
In recent years Miele and other global players, operating in the Middle East have also faced aggressive price competition from local low-cost competitors and suppliers who offer cheaper equipment, often compromising on quality and aftersales service. This creates price pressure and can affect overall industry standards.
While there is increasing interest in eco-friendly solutions, many local customers remain still price-driven and take sustainability lightly, especially since strict government regulations are not yet fully enforced. This sometimes results in reluctance to invest in energy-efficient, well-built machinery, even when it aligns with long-term operational savings and environmental responsibility
Finally, André Tienemann, director of sales for Kannegiesser told LCNi that the market remains very important for the company, while the already achieved results remain strong. According to Tienemann: “2024 proved to be an exceptionally strong year for us in the Middle East laundry and textile care market. We secured several significant new projects, and the positive momentum generated by Texcare Frankfurt resulted in a surge of new inquiries, opening up valuable opportunities. Notably, the Israeli market, where initial expectations were conservative, exceeded projections significantly. By leveraging our local partnerships and providing robust remote support, we ensured our customers; laundry operations remained uninterrupted and efficient.
“The general trend continues its positive trajectory. Our strategic forecasts from three years ago are now materialising, demonstrating the accuracy of our longterm vision.
“We are confident that the demand for laundry and drycleaning services in the Middle East will continue to grow in the coming years. While we anticipate potentially reaching peak growth within our sector this year, it is important to understand that market saturation occurs rapidly in emerging markets like the Middle East. This does not signify a cessation of investment, but rather a gradual moderation. Notably, the region has demonstrated remarkable resilience over the past three years, effectively navigating global challenges such as Red Sea piracy and escalating regional conflicts. While global tensions may have indirect effects, primarily on supply chain logistics and resulting price adjustments, the region has shown a capacity to maintain its economic momentum.”
