The current edition of ProPak India 2018 will take place from 30 August to 1 September at India Exposition Mart, Greater Noida. The event will feature an engaging and interactive conference on ‘New ways to promote healthy consumption, fighting counterfeiting and engage customers’. The conference will be conducted by Active & Intelligent Packaging Industry Association (AIPIA) and will have interactive sessions by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO). Experts from the industry will also share their view on the the economic impact of trade barriers on Indian food processing sectors and discuss novel ideas for start-ups in the food processing and packaging sector that will help the show bridge the knowledge gap and offer many facets of the industry that are waiting to be tapped upon.
On the first day, after a keynote address by Professor Pierre Pennar, industry leaders including Amit Ray, president of Uflex, Saket Bhatia, managing director fo Hindustan Tin Works and Piruz Khambatta, chairman and managing director of Rasna International will present a macro perspective on the factors driving the processing and packaging landscape. The session will be chaired by Pierre Pienaar, president of World Packaging Organization. The next session will focus on smart technologies, trends and digitalization driving processing and packaging in the beverage industry. The panelists for this session include, Andrew Manly, communications director of Activa and Intelligent Packaging Association (AIPA), Kousik Saha, head packaging commercialization, PepsiCo, Hitendra Vigamal, senior marketing, Automation Solutions department at ABB India and Trisha Narula, manager – sales, measurement and analytical products at ABB India.
This will be followed by a cross section panel that will share their views and insights on plastic wastecontrol and solid waste management including a session on circular economy chaired by S Chidambar, technical editor of Packaging South Asia. The panelists for the session will be Vijay Habbu, senior vice president of Reliance Industries and secretary general of PET Packaging Association for Clean Environment (PACE) and Jaideep Gokhale, communications director, South and South East Asia, Tetra Pak.
With a change in the buying behavior of people, online shopping is growing multi-folds, and packaging plays a pivotal role in first-hand customer experience. The panel will deliberate on this key topic and debate how innovation is no longer an option for companies to survive in this challenging digital world. The panel will include Gulshan Kaushik, director – North, Bizongo, Manish Gupta, managing director of MNM Triplewall Containers and Mihir Mohanta, general manager of Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable. This panel discussion will be chaired by Naresh Khanna, editor of Packaging South Asia.
Day 2 will kickstart with a keynote address from AVPS Chakravarthi. Key stakeholders from across the industry will discuss on the grade of plastics that are unsafe for the environment. They will also address the consumption patterns, suggest changes in the consumption mindset and the alternatives present in the industry to plastics. The panelists for this session include Swati Singh Sambyal, program manager, Environmental Governance, Centre for Science and Environment, LK Singh, vice president – North, The All Plastics Manufacturers’ Association (AIPMA) and Aditya Gupta, chairman – Technical Committee, Paper Merchant Association, Delhi. The session will be chaired by Naresh Khanna.
In addition, the brand owners will talk about the motivation to design and innovate as well as how the constraints may be tackled considering consumer preference and cost reduction. The panel includes Achintya Lahiri, national manager, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, Deepak Manchanda, founder of Autumn Design Consultants. The session will be chaired by S Chidambar. Another panel comprising Aditya Bagri, managing director of Bagrrys India, Nitin Seth, managing director of GD Foods and SX Saxena, director of Export Inspection Council, Government of India will talk about economic impact of trade barriers on Indian food processing sector followed by a panel discussion on women players in the processing and packaging industry. The panel will include Parna Dasgupta, director of Regulatory Affairs, Kellogs India, Puja Mahajan, managing director of Unitas Foods and Sunita Wahal, managing director of Wahal Engineers. The conference will conclude with a discussion on financing, investments and roadblocks.
