Packaging 360, organized a webinar on “Innovations in Sustainable Packaging of Food & Beverages” on 11th September, 2020. The idea was to present the thought leadership of leading brand owners in the F&B domain.
The session began with a welcome address by Dilip Raghavan, MD Colour Publications Pvt Ltd & Co-Founder Packaging 360, who shared his vision about the idea of the webinar & gave a brief about P360 & reiterated his commitment to serving the knowledge needs of the packaging community.
Dr.R. Rangaprasad, Business Head, Packaging 360, set the context for the webinar by giving a bird’s eye view of the theme of the webinar. He pointed out that innovations in todays scenario would have to embrace the sustainability concept. He touched upon the key aspects of health & safety, recent developments from FSSAI on packaging compliance by FBO’s. He also alluded to the new BIS standard on ban on toluene used in printing inks on substates used in food contact materials in packaging. He then gave a snapshot of some of the striking market-place innovations like paper-bottle & BOPE for flexible packaging use.
Mr. Ayaz Kagzi, VP Packaging Development, Cavin Kare Pvt. Ltd, spoke on “Consumer Trends in Foods & Beverages Packaging and Sustainability”. He based his insights on four pillars namely; Individualism, On -the-go, Safety & E commerce. Discussing on the go trend, he pointed to important factors like Single serve which offers convenience, Portion packs, & Affordability. In the recent months, consumers have shown inclination towards online purchase of all types of goods including F&B & hence packaging required special consideration. In the progression towards achieving sustainability targets, technology solutions like BOPE & BOPP could be viewed as an alternative to PET. New solutions like barrier coatings, & deeper study into use of bioplastics is required. Reuse of discarded packs into useful products would be another great step in moving towards a circular economy.
Mr. Ramesh Ramachandran, Associate Director, R&D Foods Packaging & Sustainability, PepsiCo, began his narrative on “Sustainable Food Packaging” by defining the company’s sustainability philosophy which is based on six priority areas namely; agriculture, water, packaging, products, climate, people & prosperity. The vision to action plan envisages a world wherein plastics would never be considered a waste. PepsiCo aspires to increase use of recycled content to 25 % in all its plastics packaging & reduce virgin plastics consumption in all product portfolio by 35 % by 2025. He also showed the roadmap towards biodegradable packaging films in snack foods through PLA & PHA based formulations.
Mr. Amit Saurkar, Head Packaging Development MTR Foods Pvt. Limited, explained that there were six focus areas namely: innovation, branding, digitalization, operations, responsible corporate, ORKLA. The ORKLA 2025 sustainability vision plan envisages packaging used to be 100 % recyclable, 75 % of packaging to be made from recycled materials, 50 % of flexibles to be sourced from renewable resources or be recyclable. He pointed out that in the last five months, FMOT concept of packaging is becoming obsolete as shopping has shifted gears to online ordering of specific products. In these challenging times, opportunities to explore new concepts in labelling, enhanced consumer convenience & engagement are emerging. He pointed to innovations in MTR range of sweets & Indian breakfast by way of single serve packs etc.
Mr. Sarthak Srivastava, National Manager, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Ltd, gave a totally different perspective of innovations in sustainable packaging in the non-alcoholic beverage category. He took up the case study of Affordable Small Sparkling Package (ASSP) – as an example in Disruptive Innovation. Development of this plastic bottle was possible through a seamless collaboration between HCCB, TCCC, OEM, PM partners. Extensive design parameters were built in the bottle to deliver quality & safety to the consumer.
The webinar saw participation of 200+ delegates spanning a wide spectrum of industry segments.
Packaging 360 is a comprehensive knowledge sharing ecosystem for the Indian packaging industry. Our services include an online content platform to deliver news, insights and case studies; organising conferences seminars and customised training; Providing Bespoke Project Consulting, Market Research and Intelligence.
