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"Demand for premium and high performance packaging rising"
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Monday, 17 October, 2016, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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fiogf49gjkf0d  Petainer Innopac Packaging was incorporated in January 2015 in a joint venture with Petainer UK Holdings Ltd and Innopac Containers Pvt Ltd. The company manufactures quality, high performance and sustainable PET/plastics packaging solutions. The aim is to deliver game changing solutions in the PET & plastic packaging industry while reducing the carbon footprint at reduced cost of ownership to the brand owners. Atit Bhatia, managing director, Petainer Innopac Packaging, in an email interaction with Anurag More, gives details on his company’s future plans and the emerging scenario. Excerpts:
How big is PET packaging for food and beverage industry in India?
Packaging industry is worth Rs 70,000 crore, which today corresponds to the 10th largest industry in India. Rigid plastics has about 26% market share of the industry - 50% of rigid packaging market accounted for the non-food sector, 29% beverage and rest is food.
What are the trends and developments in India in the sector?
Several brand owners who moved to the rigid plastic segment due to economics are now seeing a rise in demand for high quality, enhanced performance and premium plastic packaging. Such plastic and PET packaging not only enhance the brand image but also due to high performance bring down the total cost of ownership for brand owners in India. For example, recently Petainer Innopac a recent entrant in the Indian market has launched the petainerCooler, a game changing and revolutionary 20 litre container for the bulk mineral water segment.
Where does India stand compared to developed countries for PET packaging?
Indian PET industry is very well developed with heavy investments in this segment by large corporations, however, when it comes to specialist PET and plastics packaging, the country has just recently seen Petainer Innopac Packaging, is investing into this segment using Petainer’s patented European technology which has brought PET packaging solutions to India - the country has never seen before.
For example, Petainer Innopac’s innovative 20 L petainerCooler-Jar for the water industry provides economic savings of up to 30-40% to the brand owners by providing a high quality product which increases strength and life cycle, reduces waste and drives significant supply chain gains.
How do you see the future outlook and projections of PET packaging market in India?
PET packaging segment is seeing a strong and robust growth in this part of the world. With the growing population and increasing disposable incomes, demand for premium and high performance packaging products is also increasing.
If I take an example of water, we are seeing strong growth in the 20 litre bulk water segment, this package which used to be only an institutional pack is now also being used as a take-home pack which is significantly driving volumes in this segment.
Brand owners who bought 20 litre bulk containers of water earlier from the nearest vendor are now buying 20 L petainerCoolers from our Mumbai plant all over India, people have now started to realise the value which petainerCoolers bring to their business, not only enhancing the brand image of the product but also significantly bringing the total cost of ownership down, this not only drives economic savings but also substantially reduces the environmental waste.
How are the government regulations and certifications for PET packaging market in India?
PET packaging industry strictly follows and binds itself by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) standards which is very far developed to ensure safe delivery of food and beverages to the consumers in the freshest form.
Tell us about the competitive scenario of major companies in India for the sector.
Majorly 4 – 5 structured players are dominating this market while we have thousands of SME/MSMEs engaged in this segment as the barrier to entry is not significant due to low investment requirements.
What are the growth drivers and challenges for the sector in India?
The growing food and beverage market will drive significant growth for the PET and plastic packaging market in India. The growth of 20 litre bulk water segment / introduction of beer, wine and drinks which require barrier properties in high performance PET would be another area driving growth for the plastic packaging market. Challenge would be to work with the consumer perception of PET packaging and also continuously working on educating the customers that PET is a safe package which is not only approved by BIS standards, but also the EU and US FDA.
Another growth trend which we see for our business is when consumers realise that the petainerCoolers which we offer are absolutely BPA-free as compared to 20 litre polycarbonate jars which are not bisphenol A (BPA) free, we are also the only 20 litre bulk jar manufacturer in the country which offers a jar which is approved by the EU and US FDA.
Brief us about the import and export scenario of PET packaging.
India today has become the fastest and the largest-growing market for PET packaging due to low cost and the increasing foreign investments. The government’s Make In India initiative has given a boost and created opportunities for the foreign players investing in India. There has been a considerable increase in new manufacturing hubs in the country. The export is only going to enhance with these kind of initiatives. The country today sees very low level of import of PET packaging however India is a net exporter of PET packaging to the world.
Tell us about products offered by Petainer Innopac Packaging.
Petainer Innopac’s current product range comprises mainly petainerCooler, petainerKeg, petainerJar and the pertainerSmallContainer, with more products launches coming in 2016.
What makes you different from other players?
Petainer entered the Indian market in January 2015 through a joint venture with Innopac Containers Pvt. Ltd and formed Petainer Innopac Packaging. The company manufactures high quality, high performance and sustainable PET/plastics packaging solutions. Petainer’s proprietary technology has enabled us to launch disruptive new products that are technically superior and minimise waste through customer supply chains. Our lightweight, high performance products also help to reduce carbon footprint, making us a valued partner for customers.The aim is to deliver game changing solutions in the PET packaging industry.
Petainer Innopac’s innovative and diverse product range supports the growing demand for high performance sustainable PET and other plastics packaging. Petainer’s disruptive technologies help transform customers’ businesses.
Tell us about your expansion plans. How much will you be investing for the same?
Petainer entered the Indian market in January 2015 through a joint venture with Innopac Containers Pvt. Ltd and formed Petainer Innopac Packaging. Petainer is a UK-based company which has production plants in Sweden and the Czech Republic, blowing facilities in North America, Russia, India, as well as sales offices in Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany, USA and the UK, complemented by a network of global distributors.
Recently, Petainer UK Holdings has received funding from KKR Credit for a 100 million euro (over Rs 750 crore) debt and equity investment.
We are very pleased that Petainer has received this big round of funding which will help us to further strengthen our partnership in India as it would help us accelerate our joint growth in the Indian marketplace and enable us to have more resources to invest and bring to India products which are game changing and the country has never seen before.
This funding further strengthens our belief that we have entered the plastic packaging segment with the right technology, right partners and with absolutely fantastic products which would substantially reduce the total cost of ownership for brand owners in India.
Tell us about your research and development.
Petainer Innopac is a very R&D focussed company which manufactures high quality, high performance and sustainable PET/plastics packaging solutions. The aim is to deliver game changing solutions in the PET and plastic packaging industry while reducing the carbon footprint from environment at reduced cost of ownership to the brand owners.
Petainer Innopac focusses significant attention on proprietary innovation, leveraging its core competency in high stretch polymer engineering, which provides high performance packaging solutions.
Petainer Innopac’s innovative 20 L petainerCooler-Jar for the water industry provides economic savings of up to 30-40% to the brand owners by providing a high quality product which increases strength and life cycle, reduces waste and drives significant supply chain gains. Zerowaste is a holistic programme to remove waste from the business, such as ineffective operations and sales processes, to help customers realise their commercial and sustainability goals.
Petainer’s transformative effect can also be seen in the beer and wine market; petainerKeg is inexpensive for producers, reduces transport costs and environmental impact, without impacting taste. Large and micro breweries are able to sell wine and beer in new markets in an economical way, restaurants are then able to sell these beverages “on tap” by the glass in the freshest form, reducing service time, wastage and storage space.
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