LMAI's brand owner’s conference focuses on anti-counterfeiting

The knowledge sharing forum shed light on the brand owners’ label expectations and focused on anti-counterfeiting solutions.

Industry veteran and former chairman of Huhtamaki PPL, Suresh Gupta delivered the keynote address at the event.

He shared a disruptive story when Huhtamaki-PPL introduced shrink sleeve labels in the Indian market. ”The cost of labels in the market was close to eight paise, and the cost of shrink-sleeves was one rupee. But, it was a roaring success. Thanks to shrink-sleeves, HUL’s growth of personal products increased by 20+%, and it continued to grow at 25% for a period of 15 years.”

He further discussed the need of upgradation to smart labelling and having an internet-enabled business with the use of newest technologies such as IOT for data analytics and supply chain control in order to provide JIT to cater to the customer’s demand.

Gupta concluded with key drivers for the growth of the label industry: focus on digital printing, the need for premiumisation, recyclability in packaging design, anti-counterfeiting solutions and investment in capital equipment. “Today’s technology will be outdated in five years time, therefore continuous investment in capital equipment will be pertinent.”

Former chairman of Huhtamaki PPL, Suresh Gupta

The keynote was followed by expert sessions by Somnath Chatterjee, general manager, procurement, Pernod Ricard India; Anil Choubey, head of packaging development, Patanjali Ayurveda; Ajay Bapat, associate director, packaging development, Emcure Pharmaceuticals; Vishwas Jangam, packaging development manager, Future Consumer Enterprises; and Prabir Das, head of packaging tech services, Mylan Laboratories.

Somnath Chatterjee of Pernod Ricard India, said, “The need of the hour is a collaborative approach to meet the changing demand of customers. Be it the ink suppliers, the machine suppliers or the labelstock manufacturers, all have to work in unison for meeting the end user’s demands."

According to Chatterjee, customers want more options such as multipacks, theme-based packaging, RTD cocktails, and fresher products. He also shed light about the challenges of counterfeiting and the solutions that were proposed to him such as void labels and unique identity number.  

Vishwas Jangam of Future Consumer Enterprises said, “Every unit of Big Bazaar has 25,000 SKUs and a consumer has just 12 seconds to make the decision of buying. Good packaging plays an important role in the depiction of the brand identity, shelf-life and in influencing the final decision of consumers.”

Jangam also shared a few key insights about the new trends in labelling such as reclosable and resealable labels, IML containers, and easy peel-off labels, among others.

Ajay Bapat of Emcure Pharmaceuticals spoke about the needs of the pharma companies such as immediate delivery, cleanliness, documentation and confidentiality.

Prabhir Kumar Das, head packaging – technical services (OSD), Mylan India spoke about the importance and effectiveness in the connectivity of the product and people. According to Das, the major drivers of growth in the pharma industry are personalised branding, interactive labelling, and nano-technology, among others.

Anil Choubey, head packaging development at Patanjali Ayurved, said, “The labels should be smart, cost-effective and sustainable. Ek idea zindagi badal deta hai - A good label idea can change the fortunes of a product.

The fifth LMAI conference is to be held from 25-28 July at Kochi, Kerala.