Manjushree Technopack leads multilayer barrier bottle push for CSD in India

Vimal Kedia, Manjushree Technopack managing director, told PlasticsToday that his company recently visited with Kortec, the Massachusetts-based supplier of hot runner coinjection technology for PET preforms. At this time, Kedia said CSD bottles made in India utilize a monolayer PET design that due to the high heat and humidity in the country can't extend a product's shelf life past six months. Coke is working it Manjushree Technopack to bring a multilayer PET bottle for its products onto the market by December of this year. The packaging supplier signed a three-year deal with Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages last June to supply PET preforms.

Kedia said that Manjushree Technopack already has experience in multilayer barrier packaging through its extrusion blowmolding operations. The company runs two multilayer EBM systems from Italian supplier Techne, using the technology to create barrier bottles for items like ketchup. The company says it was the first in India to produce oxygen-barrier retortable multilayer and stretch blowmolded bottles.

Founded in 1977 as an umbrella maker before transitioning to flexible packaging, Manjushree Technopack diversified into PET bottle manufacturing in 1995 after an initial public offering that got the company listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Today, Manjushree Technopack claims to be the largest converter of PET and preforms in India with installed PET conversion capacity of 30,000 tonnes/yr in addition to the capability to manufacture 300 million containers annually and injection mold 900 million preforms/yr.

The company's business has been growing at a 35%/yr clip for the last 10 years, according to Kedia, which is helping it keep pace with the red-hot packaging market in India that's growing at an annual rate of 20%/yr. The beverage segment is expanding even faster, with average annual growth of 35%/yr. Kedia said the explosive growth is being fueled by income gains among India's billion-plus residents, with bottled water and soft drinks now affordable to more and more people. By Kedia's estimation, some 100,000 people transition from poor to middle class every day in India.

To keep up with the burgeoning domestic market, Manjushree Technopack also operates two two-stage stretch blowmolding, with one from Sidel and one from Mag-Plastic Machinery. It also has 14 single-stage injection blowmolding machines from Japan's Nissei ASB, as well as four Husky injection molding machines for preform molding. The company runs 72- and 96-cavity molds, according to Kedia, with production split between two plants and 600 employees. The facilities are located in Bangalore, with production space exceeding 30,000 m. In 2009, it commissioned two 96-cavity preform molds from Husky, boosting its capacity by 250% to daily production of 2.5 million PET preforms. —[email protected]