“The new tube laminates that we are promoting here at interpack are not the typical commoditized products. They can be colored and can run on high speed machines; they have a high chemical resistance. A lot of research and development work has gone into this,” said Naveen Talwar, director – marketing, Skypack India. The company stand had visitors from both India and overseas and Talwar called the company’s participation at interpack worthwhile.
Global ambitions
Skypack is aiming to expand its global market share in developed markets such as USA and Europe as well as in developing regions like Africa. In addition to being at interpack, the company also participated for the first time in Pack Expo in Chicago in November 2016.
“Our European footprint is negligible but we are aggressively looking to change that. At interpack we are also attempting to hire distributors for the European market,” said Talwar.
In the US market, post its Pack Expo participation, Skypack India has enjoyed some initial success. It has acquired two customers and secured a new distributor for the North American market. The company plans to participate again in Pack Expo International to be held in Chicago in 2018, although it is not going to exhibit at Pack Expo Las Vegas later this year.
Talking about the difference between the European and US markets, Talwar argued that the US economy is growing much faster than the European market, which is having an impact on the US packaging market as well. He explained that Indian companies face severe competition in Europe from flexible packaging exporters in Poland, Turkey and the Czech Republic, which is not the case when it comes to the US market where Indian companies are at par with other companies from emerging economies.
“Companies from countries like Poland, Turkey and Czech Republic enjoy a geographical advantage when it comes to serving the European market. In the case of the US market, we are all at par,” he said. Skypack India is looking to serve the African market and is planning its participation in exhibitions there as well.
Editors note: Our live coverage of Metpack and interpack by Ron Augustin, Shardul Sharma and Naresh Khanna will appear in the print and eMagazine versions of the June issue of Packaging South Asia dated 7 June 2017, which goes to press on 30 May 2017. Editorial inputs and advertising queries for both web and print channels can be sent to interpackreview@ippgroup.in.
