'Food packaging sect in India poised for a boom'

With the boom in the organised retail sector in food processing industry, which is growing at a rate of 9 to 12 per cent per year, the packaging sector is poised to witness a considerable change , according to G Shanker, president, Madras Consultancy Group.

Addressing the gathering at Packcon 2005, a conference on food packaging and innovations, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as part of its biennial event-FoodPro 2005, Shanker said that the packaging sector in India is poised to grow at an annual rate of eight to ten per cent with the highly fragmented consumer packaging market valued at Rs 18,000 crore.

Lakshman Kanuga, president, sales and operations of IPN India Packaging, said that there is a shift in rigid packaging to flexible packaging, driven by innovative trends like spouted and shaped pouches.

There is a growth in various supportive materials like silicon oxide or aluminium oxide coated films, interactive and fun films, accompanied by the changes in old rotagravure style of labelling to digital style.

According to Angshuman Roy, packaging consultant with Vision Pack, the important challenge ahead of this sector is counterfeiting of labels as in the case of Panparag.

"Globally, there is more inclination towards commercial bio-packaging, which makes use of natural products such as banana leaves with a light coating of chemicals. India will also catch up with the trend soon," he added.

The Packcon 2005 focuses on the contribution of packaging as an effective aid in inventory management, and product identification through barcode and Radio Frequency Identification technologies.