‘Leadership in Quality’ Award bagged by Ashok Chaturvedi, CMD of Uflex ltd.

Uflex ltd. is a globally acknowledged packaging entity providing flexible packaging solutions to various clients in India and various countries across the globe. With state-of-the-art packaging solutions, the company is emerging as one of the leading flexible packaging entities in the country. Uflex’s quality standards are acknowledged in the form of various awards and achievements like DuPont Silver Award 2015, India’s Top 500 Companies 2015 by D&B, The Association of International Metallizers, Coaters and Laminators (AIMCAL) Awards and Asia’s Most Promising Brand 2013-14 by World Consulting & Research Corporation in the year 1983. The company has established yet another benchmark of success this year. Uflex ltd. was awarded the ‘Lokmat Corporate Excellence Award’ in the Financial Capital and the Chairman & Managing Director of the company, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi was conferred the Innovative Leadership in Quality Award. It is a great moment of pride for the company. In an official statement, said that he Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi that he is humbled by this conferral. The company strives to serve the best to its customers with major focus on Anti-counterfeiting measures, eco-friendly products, timely deliveries, efficient services, easy functionality, good aesthetics, great shelf life and increased barrier properties of the products. 

The ‘Lokmat Corporate Excellence’ award highlighted Uflex’s exemplary corporate governance and sustained performance to augment shareholders’ value. It acknowledges company’s overall excellence and innovation quotient in the product offerings. Uflex ltd. enjoys a strong market presence in around 140 countries across the globe, where its products are sold at large scales. The company has been particularly awarded for its modern state-of-the-art technologies to attain standards of excellence in the areas of operations. This is the third edition of ‘Lokmat Corporate Excellence Award’ with an ever growing interest and overwhelming response from the multinational companies. Competing around 26 entities in the packaging category, Uflex ltd. emerged as the winner of ‘Corporate Excellence Award’

Uflex incorporating sustainable packaging solutions

Sustainability is an important aspect for packaging industry as packaging is usually considered as a waste for consumers. Uflex, an international leader in packaging industry, ensures a proper material optimization and has identified four key areas to ensure sustainability:

Using eco-friendly technology in order to conserve maximum energy. This includes the use of intercept technology which is clean, green, reusable and recyclable.

• Uflex ensures a reduced carbon footprint by using biodegradable packaging material (Carbon footprint measures the impact our activities have on environment and climate, based on the amount of emission greenhouse gases by burning of fossils). Uflex emphasizes on cutting the use of materials made from fossil fuels, including plastics. It has adopted flexographic printing technique which helps in getting more energy efficiency while reducing material consumption.

• Uflex runs with the motto ‘tomorrow’s packaging using today’s waste’. It uses fizzy water bottles and plastic packages which produce a unique material which can be further used for packaging.

• Uflex firmly holds that all flexible packaging should be recycled in the same industry.

Uflex has been using the following techniques for recycling and reusing:

Green pet: It is made from PTA and GREEN MEG resin. PTA is manufactured by oxidation of p-xylene and GREEN MEG is manufactured from Ethanol obtained from Agro based source. This film does not contain any MEG which is conventionally made through the crude oil route. Green MEG is made from renewable source and GREEN PET film contains 30% of GREEN MEG. The film is FDA approved and adheres to EC Food Compliance Guidelines, making it absolutely safe for food contact, at the same time, maintaining the same qualities as that of natural PET film made from MEG which is derived from crude oil, with environment friendly characteristics.

rPET: It is made from Post Consumer Waste Recycled (PCR) Resin, which refers to material previously used by consumers and again recycled to use in a new product. rPET contains up to 30% of PCR resin obtained by tertiary chemical glucoses route. rPET is US FDA approved, EU compliant and is safe for food contact. It offers the same performance properties as standard PET films while being environment friendly, and is available in all thicknesses and widths.

Trends in Food Packaging

While storing food in containers is a practice that is thousands of years old, and selling food in bottles and cans is prevalent since 1700s and 1800s respectively, the modern age of food packaging began in 1890s. Crackers were first sold in sealed waxed paper bags inside a paperboard box and plastics and other synthetics began to appear in the 1920s and ’30s.

That being the background, today the packaging industry is growing at a fast pace and rides on increased industrial production and international trade. The demands on package converters have become more intense and sophisticated.

Interestingly, while India has the second-largest GDP among emerging economies based on purchasing power parity and is the fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, the packaging industry in the country is one of the fastest-growing industries which has its influence on all industries.

Rapid growth
The Indian packaging industry is growing continuously. Its total worth is about US$24.6 billion. The average annual growth rate is about 13 - 15%. However, there is great growth potential in the sector since India’s per capita consumption of packaging is only 4.3 kg whereas Asian countries like China and Taiwan show about 6 kg and 19 kg, respectively. This clearly indicates that there are many more commodities which need to be marketed in packaged condition and thus, a great business opportunity stands for the Indian packaging industry.

Moreover, the Indian retail market is the fifth largest retail destination globally and has been ranked the second most attractive emerging market for investment. The market is currently valued at US$350 million and is expected to rise to US$1.3 trillion by 2015. The packaging industry is expected to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period, to become the fourth-largest global market, with sales of US$43.7 billion in 2016.

Two challenges
Manufacturers of consumer packaged goods face two key challenges in 2015. The first is continued slow or negative growth in people’s disposable incomes. The second is changing consumer attitudes toward products and brands, as the the great fragmentation of consumer markets takes another turn. In response, companies must dramatically shift the route they take to reach consumers in terms of both product distribution and communications.

In many markets, consumer wages have been static for five years. Even where economies are starting to perform better, the squeeze on after-tax wages, especially for the middle-class, younger people, and families, is affecting consumer spending. Although growth in developing countries is still better than in the United States and Europe, a slowdown in emerging countries such as China — where many companies had hoped for higher sales — has translated quickly into lower-than-expected consumer spending growth. It is expected to continue regardless of which way macro GNP uncertainties break.

Consumer behaviour
Fragmentation is manifested in consumer behaviour and market response. In both developed and emerging markets, there is a wider variety among consumers now. Growth is evident both at the top of the market (where more consumers are spending for higher quality food and other packaged goods) and at the lower end (where an increasing number of consumers are concentrating on value). But the traditional middle of the market is shrinking.

Further, individual consumer behaviour is more pluralistic. We are used to seeing, for example, spirits buyers purchasing a premium brand in a bar, a less-costly label at home for personal consumption, and yet another when entertaining guests. But this type of mixed shopping has now spread to the grocery basket. Fewer consumers are making one big stocking-up trip each week. Instead, shoppers are visiting a premium store and a discounter as well as a supermarket, in addition to making frequent purchases online. In the recession, more shoppers became inclined to spend time hunting for bargains, and as some traditional retailers either went out of business or shuttered stores, retail space was freed up and was often filled by convenience stores, specialty shops, and discounters.

Read full article at: F&B News

UFLEX LTD. ADJUDGED NUMBER ONE IN TERMS OF TOTAL INCOME IN THE PACKAGING AND ALLIED ACTIVITIES SECTOR BY DUN &BRADSTREET

India’s largest flexible packaging company Uflex has been adjudged number one company in the Packaging and Allied Activities Sector by Dun &Bradstreet (D&B), the world’s leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight. D&B in its 15th edition of the report “India’s Top 500 Companies 2015″ has ranked Uflex as number one, on account of its total income in the year 2014 which is highest by any company in the sector.

India’s Top 500 Companies’ is among the longest running reputed publications in the country that ranks and felicitates high performance Indian companies in terms of various financial and operational parameters.

This is a great achievement yet again for the company. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director of Uflex feels that this award is an acknowledgement of Uflex’s business strategy based on the principle of Client Relationship Management. Today Uflex is the preferred supplier of flexible packaging solutions to the customers across the world. For Uflex, customer is at the core. The association with each client extends far beyond the business realms to form a strong bond as enterprise partners and not merely suppliers.. Uflex Ltd’s continued commitment towards innovation and adding value to clients’ businesses   is reflected in the organization’s sustained growth over the years.

Read full article: uFlex-ltd-packaging

Ashok Chaturvedi – Pioneer of Flexible Packaging Solutions

Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi has the vision and far-sightedness that has made him the Founder and Managing Director of theUflex Group, one of India’s largest Flexible Packaging Company. He has been the pioneer of Flexible Packaging in India and his dynamic approach has made Uflex one of the fastest growing companies in Packaging Industry.

Uflex deals in flexible packaging solutions, bi-axially oriented plastic films, chemicals, engineering, cylinders, holography and food. Initiated in 1983, the company has a turnover in excess of USD 1.5 bn. One of the largest leading business conglomerates, the company has fetched an international status by extending its operations to USA, Mexico, Poland, Egypt and Dubai. Mr Chaturvedi delivers the 3 Qs of Quality, Quantity and Quickness to his customers and has his customer base across 120 countries around the world.

Mr Chaturvedi believes in excellence, modernization, quality and quantum. Having taken Uflex to the summit of success, he is always focused on bringing about innovation and value addition. His experience of an extensive travelling lends him a global outlook which he considers mandatory for the growth of any business. He has also been the recipient of various awards and honors.

Mr Chaturvedi elaborately emphasizes on the pillar of people not only within the organization but also with his customers, business partners and other stakeholders. He is known for his efforts towards bettering the lives of others. He has also been contributing towards the development of management institutions and educational facilities for the underprivileged.

He is very passionate about cricket and thus contributes a great portion towards improvement of sports facilities in the country, particularly for the underprivileged. He has recently been a promoter of an advanced Modern Cricket Club in the country.