PrintWeek (PW): What are your sales numbers in the last 12 months?
Sandeep Sharma (SS): We have had the expected financial year. We are growing 35% year-on-year since our inception. We achieved our targets, but it could had been better.

PW: A little ahead, we have the big shows — Interpack, Labelexpo Europe 2023, Drupa 2024. Would your company be part of these shows?
SS: Yes. We will be exhibiting in Labelexpo Brussels. We will be showcasing our ACE technology at the show. We are still thinking about Drupa 2024.

PW: Do we have the data and trends that can prove packaging business is an industry well worth exploring?
SS: It is clear that print and packaging is the only industry which has survived the Covid era, and has seen tremendous growth post-Covid. Just to give you an example, in the pre-Covid times, we used to see lot of loose items were sold by local groceries and other stores. But during Covid, and now, everyone has moved to packaged stuff. Now, the local grocery stores are also selling their products with their own brand name on the package. It is a big change considering the population size we have.

PW: Can you share an example of a customer of yours diversifying packaging after seeing your kit in action?
SS: There are quite a lot. In fact, post-Covid, many players from other industries ventured into the printing and packaging segment, considering the fact that this industry was the least affected during Covid and which has seen substantial growth in past three years.

PW: Good quality manufacturing is of the essence… Could share some pointers?
SS: The only suggestion I would give to our industry peers is that don’t look at what others are doing and don’t go with the trend. We have to understand which market segment we have to cater to and accordingly plan for investments.

PW: Is social media having an effect on the print industry?
SS: I would call social media a boon for the print industry. It might be impacting some areas of printing business, but overall, it is helping the industry to grow in many ways.

PW: Most of the CEO’s energy is focused on taxes. How does one find the time to focus on business?
SS: I don’t agree with the fact that Indian CEOs are micro-managing the show. If you want to grow, you should have a team and we should empower our team to take decisions. It doesn’t matter if sometimes they take wrong decisions.