Tetra Pak ground on a state-of-the-art packaging material factory in Chakan near Pune. The Euro 100 million (INR 600 crores) plant is designed to meet growing demand for carton packaged dairy beverages and fruitbased drinks in India, South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
The new plant will have an initial annual production capacity of 8.5 billion packages, with the potential of increasing to 16 billion packages. It will produce packaging material for such packages as Tetra Brik® Aseptic, Tetra Fino® Aseptic and Tetra Classic® Aseptic. The Indian commitment follows similar recent investment to increase production capacity in China, Pakistan, Russia and Brazil.
Driven by economic growth, a rising middle class and increasing demand for the convenience of packaged drinks, the market for carton packaged dairy beverages and fruit based drinks is expected to grow from 757 million litres in 201 to 1.3 billion litres by 2013 in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The same trend is taking place in South and South East Asia, where this market is expected to rise from 3.6 to 5.4 billion litres during this period. In the Middle East, it is expected to increase from 8.3 to 10.6 billion litres.
“We are committed to supporting our customers to meet growing consumer demand in these regions and all over the world,” said Alejandro Anavi, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain Operations, Tetra Pak. He noted that “in addition to the convenience of packed dairy beverages and fruit-based drinks, more people are becoming aware of the nutritional benefits of aseptically processed and packaged milk.”
To date Tetra Pak has invested approximately Euro 24 million in the existing Pune plant, which has been in operation for nearly 14 years and is reaching its full capacity. “With strong economic growth, a dynamic consumer base and modernization of distribution and retailing, there is a high demand across all categories,” said Kandarp Singh, Managing Director, Tetra Pak India.Among its facilities the new packaging plant will have a Machine Rebuilding Centre providing technical services such as start-up support and machine renovation to customers. It will also have a Product Development and Innovation Center (PDIC), which will have a laboratory, a pilot processing plant and a pilot packaging plant to meet the product formulations and development needs of customers.
The new plant will also tout several environmentally efficient features such as the use of renewable and non conventional energy and materials, heat recovery to generate air conditioning and rain water harvesting.
