In his welcome address, the BMPA president Amit Shah spoke about technology innovation, and how the print industry must pay attention to the forces that will certainly shape our future.

PC Musthafa, founder and CEO of iD Fresh Food shared his journey for the benefit of print delegates. Musthafa, who dropped out of school, talked about how he made a company with a value of more than a thousand crores, and how packaging helped his company grow.

ITC's executive director Sumant Bhargavan, the man known for setting up Bingo!, the snack food category at ITC spoke at length about three business ops - and how to keep abreast with the changes the consumer requires, and how ITC in India has responded; and how testing and research backed up by work on the ground has built the ITC brand.

The February issue of PrintWeek also highlights the proceeding of the first two days of Pamex 2024, held on 6-9 February. The four-day show witnessed more than 750 live running machines and 150 product launches.  

The industry needs skilled professionals on the shopfloor, and different printing education institutes have been churning out printing professionals for decades now. Still, there seems to be a disconnect between industry and academia. Why? What do print teachers want from the industry? In the Education section. PrintWeek, with the support of Prof Anjan Baral, asked 14 print gurus.

There are over 1,00,000 startups, with many of them operating in the FMCG and food sectors, and they are all looking to establish a unique identity for their products. With a set-up equipped with HP Indigo 25K, Navi Mumbai’s Art Next is creating a niche for smaller brands with its flexible packaging solutions. Noel D’Cunha and Aditya Ghosalkar find out.

18 halls, 1,400 exhihibitors from 50 nations. 76 exhibitors occupying 4,700 sqm area, set to make India one of the Top 10 national at Drupa. “The industry expects groundbreaking technologies and product premieres and given this fact, Drupa will be the most significant trade fair of the year for the global print and packaging industry,” says Sabine Geldermann, director Drupa, portfolio print technologies at Messe Dusseldorf, in this interaction with Noel D’Cunha.

The digital print manufacturers have been recording an increase in investments and market capitalisation. This was reflected in three big days during CEIF at the Jio World Convention Centre.

Amid intensifying competition, manufacturers are upping their ante. Prabagaran S, senior general manager, Epson India talks to Noel D’Cunha about how the digital label press is poised to usher in a new era for the Japanese manufacturer.

Photo albums capture memories of events like weddings, birthdays, and vacations. In India, weddings are grand events, not just in metros but in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, with the wedding industry estimated to be USD 30-bn. The photobook market was estimated to be USD 3.41-bn in 2023. By 2029, it is set to grow to USD 4.42-bn. Noel D’Cunha reports.

At the helm of Uday Digital, Prathyaksh Huttinagadde continues his late father’s legacy, steering the Bengaluru-based company towards innovation, sustainability, and market diversification in digital photo printing and premium wedding albums. A report by Vimal Parmar.

In the cover story for the WhatPackaing? supplement, Disha Chakraborty writes about her experience of attending the Print Yatra event at Letra Graphix. Label specialist Letra Graphix, in collaboration with Avery Dennison and Heidelberg Gallus, hosted a Label Yatra on 19 January 2024. At the event, 17 creative designers from TCT Strategic Branding, Beyondesign, Elephant Design, Control-M, Bizongo, Stratedgy, Famous India and Conran Design gathered at the Letra plant in Ahmedabad. PrintWeek /WhatPackaging? organised the panel of creative designers present at the event. 

In the Brand Packaging section, Sumit Gupta, CEO of Bravado, a men's grooming startup, explains the company’s core purpose. “The core purpose of Bravado is to bridge the existing gap by offering men a diverse and sophisticated range of personal care products that prioritise sustainable ingredients,” he says. 

WhatPackaging? in a conversation with Dr Vijay Habbu, an eminent person in the field of plastics and sustainability, backs plastics as a wonderful invention, and demystifies several myths around it.

In a recent poll conducted by WhatPackaging?, we found out that packaging is an important marketing tool for 34% of the decision-makers. Gaurav Bhagat, CEO of Consortium Gifts says, “Packaging has been a vital component of our brand identity and marketing strategy over the last 25 years”.

The WhatPackaging? team explores the company’s approach in the glass packaging industry, and what is the recipe that drives its performance. Rajesh Khosla, CEO of AGI Glaspac shares insights.