At the Cilicant stand at PackEx 2017, Packaging South Asia met Manish Jain, founder and managing director of the company, which is a pioneer of desiccants for the food and pharmaceutical industries in India. Jain was a busy man meeting visitors whose turnout far exceeded his expectations. He estimated that the turnout at his stand was thrice more than what was expected, which in a way vindicated his initial view that desiccants will have widespread demand in India, especially in the food processing and pharmaceutical segments. Jain shared some valuable updates on his company and the desiccants (oxygen scavenger) business in India.
Jain shared, “There is high demand for this product outside our country. In countries like Japan, China or Taiwan, if they have a problem with oxygen contamination in their processed and packed food, they will use desiccant.” He emphasized on the need for educating the Indian market on the benefits of this product. The scale is such that even at this early stage, the number of inquiries seems to be quite large.
When asked whether Cilicant organizes seminars and workshops to educate the market about this product, Jain was candid enough to say that he hasn’t tried that approach yet as he is focusing mainly on building up a customer base. He confirmed Cilicant’s participation in the forthcoming Gulfood manufacturing event in October 2018, as the show will have the biggest Indian food brands there. He was also impressed by the response at PackEx 2017 not just because the Cilicant stand attracted three times more people than what was expected, but mostly because they received some interesting queries. According to him, the visitors were obviously aware of the product and many of them have already had a bad experience with some cheap products sold by smaller Chinese suppliers among others.
Jain said that Cilicant has a much more realistic approach, which is appreciated by the customers. “We always focus on the quality by first suggesting a test and if the customer faces a problem, we help them out with the testing to prove that our oxygen scavengers are of the best quality. Only after they are satisfied do we move on with the commercial side of the interaction.” He added that the efficacy of a desiccant depends on its packing and this is why cheap machinery should be avoided. Cilicant uses the best Japanese machinery for its desiccants and complies with international food standards; it also maintains a data track of all its products.
