The 2019 journey began with SMI, which has evolved into India’s leading labelstock manufacturing company. It featured the conversations that transpired between Ajay Mehta and the WhatPackaging? team at SMI's Ambernath factory version 2.0.

During which, Ajay Mehta and son, Rohit Mehta led delegations in groups of 10-15 through a show-and-tell of SMI's labelstock journey. During the two-hour walk-though, visitors saw the manufacturing process of more than 300 products with a choice of emulsion acrylic or hotmelt adhesives in permanent, peelable, semi-freeze, deep freeze and low migration variants.

The 12th edition of WhatPackaging? magazine shed light on how Vijayneha achieved its packaging dream. In the midst of consolidation, the Indian flexible packaging industry has a new kid on the block in Hyderabad. The WhatPackaging? team visited the new Unit-III of Vijayneha Polymers, which sits in the industrial area of Rangareddy District in the outskirts of Hyderabad. It is a packaging enthusiasts’ equivalent of stepping into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

Unlike the other two units of the three-decade-old Vijayneha Polymers, which processes plastics and produce commodity products such as plastic bags, the Unit-III is a high-configured flexible packaging plant with brand new and sophisticated equipment. It marks the company’s move up the value chain. “We started with 1,800 tonnes, which will go up to 5,000 tonnes in the next five years. The game is changing, and Vijayneha will lead from the front,” were the concluding remarks of the April issue cover story, said by Vijayneha’s Kaushik Nag.

The June issue of WhatPackaging? featured an interview with David Clark, vice president - sustainability, Amcor USA, who visited India to examine the new Bharuch plant and deliver a keynote address at IFCA seminar. In conversation with Ramu Ramanathan, Clark spoke about multi-layer plastic, innovations, and EPR models.

In the August issue, WhatPackaging? team highlighted Ahmedabad-based Pentaflex Films. In 2016, after over 20 years as a leading Indian manufacturer of flexible packaging PE films, the company took the bold decision to add printing to its portfolio and take the flexo route, in a market dominated by gravure. A year later the move took concrete commercial form as a new establishment in Ahmedabad, home to a new Bobst CI flexo press. And just two years later, Pentaflex took Silver at the Kodak Global Flexo Innovation Awards — a massive achievement for such a young company.

The interview elucidated the company’s flexo vision. Pentaflex’s Anand Patel acknowledged that he and his fellow directors took a risk, and explains why it was a very calculated one. “Flexo is only about 15% of the FMCG market that we focus on, and most of that is dairy packaging. The rest of the market is largely gravure, so there’s a huge opportunity to win brands over to flexo — and we have some really serious factors working in our favour.”

This year, we dug deep into the subject of circular economy. The WhatPackaging? team did its best to provide success stories revolving around sustainability and initiate the green efforts that the industry should employ in 2020. And one such stride was the Circular Economy Forum. The December issue comprised a detailed report of the event. It included panel discussions and expert sessions on topics such as the environmental impact of print and packaging and how to achieve an efficient packaging design.

As we embrace another decade of packaging development, packed with innovations and new design concepts, we realise that sustainability will play a pivotal role in transforming the industry in the coming years. And each bit of it will be covered by us.  

Contact Abhishek Muralidharan at abhishek.muralidharan@haymarketsac.com to share your news, views and market moves with us.