Toph Packaging forays into packaging with Bobst M5

Priyank Virmani, co-founder, Toph Packaging, said, “We initiated the business during lockdown. We were at home and were planning to diversify. Someone suggested label converting. We downloaded the knowledge from various platforms and opted for it.”

Virmani comes from a business family with stakes in real estate and rice mills. So, label printing was a completely different business, but Virmani said he opted for it because of its creativity. “We evaluated multiple machines and found Bobst to be suitable for our requirements, especially as a new entrant. Our press is servo-driven, and we can do shrink sleeves and short runs on the machine,” he said.

The machine can run at 200-mpm.

Virmani, an engineer and management degree-holder, said, “We are catering to customers from pharma, and cosmetics and trying for new applications for the segments. Response from the market has been good. We are supplying to the 100-km radius around our plant and in Delhi-NCR too.  

On the name, Toph, Virmani said that he believes in spirituality and Toph is a Japanese word which means grooming/expanding lotus. “We believe that everyone is the same and we started the plant with the same thought. This means empathy for your employees. A human factor must be there. We are happy with the machine and our diversification. Packaging is going to grow, and so are labels and so are the label converters,” he said.

The company’s team of 20 people works in a 600-sqm factory in a single shift.

“Having a single machine has its own limitations, but fortunately being a robust machine, we haven’t seen a breakdown. Digital printing for labels can be an option in future but only as per market demands. Our focus is on specialised jobs along with routine production. After our diversification from rice mills to real estate to printing, we realised that anything can be done with appropriate research,” he explained.

He added that being a new entrant, it was tough initially, but the company is now settling down. “An aggressive approach is required to expand the business. We are working to achieve Rs 50-crore turnover in the coming five years,” Virmani said. “The price war is not good for anyone because raw material costs can’t be controlled and cost-cutting is not good for anyone. Substandard material is killing people.”