India’s largest multinational flexible packaging materials and solution company, Uflex, has unveiled Asepto, its aseptic liquid packaging brand. Derived from the word aseptic, meaning sterile, Asepto ensures that food remains free from bacteria and other harmful micro organisms for a period of at least 8 months under room temperature. The aseptic packages are made by laminating poly-ethylene with paperboard and aluminium foil, producing a multi-layered construction which enables the carton to protect the contents from various factors responsible for spoilage, thereby preserving the product freshness and value. Uflex’s aseptic liquid packaging manufacturing plant will be commercially operational by April 2017.
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Key Points
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Uflex is investing Rs 1,500 crore in its greenfield plant at Sanand in Gujarat: so far it has invested Rs 580 crore
Present size of the aseptic liquid packaging in India is around 10 billion packs as of now, which is valued around Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 3,000 crore
In India, presently, the aseptic liquid packaging segment is dominated by the Swiss firm Tetra Pak
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Printing, creasing and punching of paper board is done on the printing machine. This is followed by the lamination of paper board on the extrusion machine with aluminium film and a different type of polyethylene. The rolls from the lamination machine are converted to rolls of smaller width as per the required size of packages i.e. 200 ml, 100 ml, 1000 ml and more. The finished rolls are sent to the customer where these rolls are run on the forming and filling line and the desired products (which could be juices, milk, other dairy and distillery products) are filled and packed in the packages.
Ashwani Sharma, president and CEO, New Business Initiatives, Uflex Limited said, “The aseptic packaging market in India is majorly classified into three segments – juices, dairy products and liquor. Packaging of flavoured milk, other dairy items and liquor in aseptic packaging material will play a key role in propelling the growth of aseptic packaging in the coming years both in India and overseas. Our total manufacturing capacity of 7 billion packs per annum will cater to 90% of the domestic market demand. In Asia-Pacific, the market growth is around 7% and in India the growth has been in double digits for the last 3 to 4 years.
“Presently the Indian aseptic liquid packaging market is growing at 17-18% per annum and the market is expected to double up in the next five years to approximately 20 billion packs per annum. Drawing parallels, China boasts of a tremendous growth story which has already reached approximately 80 billion packs. In India with similar population the growth potential is humongous. Aseptic packaging manufacturing is the big thing for taking Uflex to the next level of business excellence. We are all set to take off in the Indian market and position this business globally.”
Commenting about the investment that has gone into the upcoming aseptic packaging manufacturing plant, RK Jain, group president (Corp. F & A), Uflex Limited said, “The aseptic packaging manufacturing plant is coming up on 21 acres of the 72 acre land parcel that Uflex has bought at Sanand, Gujarat. Remaining land may cater to any future expansion of Uflex’s existing business as well as for aseptic packaging manufacturing as the need be. Upholding our commitment towards environmental sustainability, the aseptic packaging manufacturing facility has been designed to be a zero discharge plant. Solar panels and Passive Architecture-Envelop Insulation have been used to preserve natural light besides conserving power energy.
The investment towards the aseptic packaging plant is Rs 580 crore (approx. US$ 85 million) and once operational, it will employ around 250 people. Our total investment over the next two to three years is Rs 1500 crore in a phased manner. This already includes Rs 580 crore towards setting up the aseptic packaging manufacturing plant. The balance will be utilized for modernization of manufacturing systems and processes and R&D towards yet better flexible packaging solutions using the most contemporary technology. From the current top line of US$ 1 Billion, we are very positive of doubling up in the next three to four years.”
Ashok Chaturvedi, chairman and managing director, Uflex Limited said, “Being the fully integrated multinational flexible packaging materials and solution company that we are, we will also be offering the specialized filling machines to our clients as a well-rounded packaging solution for their liquid products. Our Engineering Business at Noida is designing and manufacturing machines with a filling speed of 7,500 packs per hour for a typical 200 ml pack.
We already have a wide customer base to whom we offer fully integrated flexible packaging solutions for their solid, semi-solid, granular, powder, paste, gel and viscous fluid products. Now with our aseptic packaging manufacturing plant going operational, getting orders from the existing clients for their liquid products will be a natural extension of our long standing business relationship of several decades.”
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The aluminum foil layer is a strong barrier for O2 and light
The innermost layer made of polyethylene makes it possible to seal- through the pack
The paper layer provides stiffness, making it possible for the cartons to assume a brick shape thereby enabling maximum utilization of the available storage and transportation space
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