The disruption came with a steep price tag. Kumar said a container that cost around $3,000 before the crisis rose to $17,000 during the disruption.

For shipments from the Americas, the cost jumped from around $4,860 to $24,600.

Prices have since eased but remain well above normal levels, with UK-Europe containers now costing around $7,000 and American-origin containers about $17,000, Kumar said.

“It's still extreme,” he said.

Spinneys is responding by looking for alternative sourcing markets, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and Europe, for products traditionally sourced from the US.

The pressure was also visible in the company's margins. First-half gross profit rose 4.1 per cent to Dh784 million, but gross margin narrowed to 41 from 41.5 per cent, with Spinneys citing higher freight costs, inflation, longer transit times and logistics disruption.

Despite all that, product availability remained between 83 and 88 per cent in the second quarter, while shipment delays fell to nine days in June from 38 days in March.

At the same time, consumers are becoming more cautious.

Spinneys' transaction volumes rose 6.1 per cent year-on-year to 21.8 million in the first half, but the average basket fell to Dh86.40.

“Customers are conscious that we are not buying big trolleys; rather, they choose to come on a daily basis or weekly basis to the store and buy in basket volume,” he said.

One factor behind the shift, he said, was Spinneys' decision to hold prices on 500 key-value stock-keeping units (SKUs), rather than pass all higher costs on to shoppers.

“We have deliberately, consciously taken the decision that we don't want to increase the price on key value lines, 500 SKUs which we have identified. We don't want to give that cost to customers,” Kumar said.

However, where costs could no longer be absorbed, Spinneys passed them on through higher recommended selling prices.

“So you may find if you don't require and you have an alternative solution and you have a substitution available within the store, then the customers probably buy lesser,” he said.

That behaviour is known in retail as “trading down” — choosing a cheaper alternative rather than buying the more expensive product.

All said, Kumar is bullish when it comes to the region and the company's expansion to other markets.

Spinneys opened 11 stores across the UAE and Saudi Arabia over the 12 months to June, taking its gross selling area above one million square feet for the first time. The company employs close to 6,000 people across its operations as it continues to expand its retail and manufacturing footprint.

It also plans to open three more UAE stores by the end of 2026, while its first stores in Kuwait and the Philippines are planned for early Q1 2027. The company has also increased its stake in its Saudi business from 50 per cent to 70 per cent, strengthening its position in the Kingdom.

But, for Kumar, the upheaval has ultimately been a lesson in flexibility — and one that could outlast the crisis itself.

From finding new ports and overland routes to shifting sourcing between continents and making more products locally, Spinneys has had to build a business that can keep moving when its traditional routes cannot.

“Every crisis will bring and open many doors of opportunities,” Kumar said. “Whether it is in product assortment, how it has behaved in the business, as well as other business opportunities.”