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“A solution ready, available and proven”
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Monday, 22 May, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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 Hindustan Tin Works (HTW) Ltd is a leading can packaging company with more than 50 years of experience in the industry. Over the years, the company has evolved into a leading player providing a wide range of metal packaging solutions like decorative cans, re-closable cans, aerosol cans, general line cans, shaped cans, beverage cans, open top sanitary cans, cookie cans, and slip lid cans. It manufactures variety of metal cans and supplies them for dairy products, infant formula, edible oils, tea, coffee, medicines, chemicals in countries and regions such as Africa, Australia, Europe, the Middle-East, New Zealand, USA, and South East Asia.
Saket Bhatia, senior vice-president, marketing, Hindustan Tin Works Ltd, in an email interaction with Harcha Bhaskar talks about how tin can packaging is the best packaging option for both dry and liquid food products, because of its barrier properties to oxygen, moisture, bacteria, sunlight and rodents and advantages such as being shelf-stable. Excerpts:
What are high performance tin cans? How beneficial is this type of packaging to food products?
Tin cans have definitely evolved over the years, rightfully earning the status of being high performance cans. They have been constantly modified to become more attractive and durable. It is also interesting to note that no other mode of packaging has lost as much weight as tin cans.
Tin cans offer maximum shelf life compared to any other pack whether it is for dry products or liquid products like fruit juices and beverages. It not only offers the highest barrier properties to oxygen, moisture, bacteria, sunlight and rodents but is also shelf-stable. Once properly processed and packed, the content can be stored inside the cans without any requirements of refrigeration/temperature control, thus maximising the freshness of the food and keeping its quality intact. Canning also offers maximum filling space.
What are the types of food and beverage cans in your portfolio? How is the requirement of each food and beverage different from the other one?
Hindustan Tin Works focusses on variety of food and beverage can types which are made from metal of promising quality. From processed food cans for fruit pulps and vegetables, to beverage cans for liquid drinks, HTW lays importance on each and every requirement of the product in order to deliver quality results to the consumers.
The general line built up cans with penny lever end (TOP) are suitable for products like baby powder, protein powder, coffee and ghee.
Slip lid cans are designed for gifting purpose and can be used for packaging of cookies and chocolates.
Even with different food items, HTW designs its cans according to the product and its requirements, thus each can type is different from the rest. For example fish cans have a different internal lacquer coating compared to mango pulp cans or rasgulla cans have a special easy opening system for consumption.
How is the quality of food maintained in canned food? How portable is this packaging when it comes to distribution and warehousing?
Canning is a 200-year-old proven technology for preservation of food. It was invented by Nicolas Appert – father of canning in the year 1809. The French government during the First World War announced an award for anyone who could help the government to preserve food for the Navy who used to spend years on the ship. He submitted his invention to the French government and was announced the winner in January of 1810, some 15 years after he first began experimenting.
Canned food is generally packed close to the place of produce and during the season, therefore it protects almost all nutrients, vitamins of the food and is healthier than the fresh ones sold through our unorganised distribution chain which reaches the plate after many weeks.
Certain studies by industry experts in the developed countries also show that the energy saved to retain the freshness of the product in canning vis-à-vis cold chain is almost 70% as there is no requirement for refrigeration for keeping the food fresh for more than 24 months.
That is why we also call it “the portable warehouse!”
Are tin cans sustainable forms of packaging? Can they be recycled and reused? How environment- friendly is this option?
Yes, tin cans are a highly sustainable packaging option as they are 100% recyclable. All disposed metal cans eventually go into melting and are converted to steel once again. What is peculiar about metal is that it retains the original properties of the steel despite being recycled infinite number of times. Which means this recycled steel can become a white good item or once again become a can. In India, there is a highly efficient recycling system where the ragpickers collect scrap and sell it to the smelters and scrap dealers. Since metal fetches an excellent scrap realisation value it becomes the preferred material for recycling, making this a self sustaining activity.
In Brazil, they say – “if you drop a can from your hand, someone will catch the same before it reaches the ground and sell it to the scrap dealers.”
With the recent thrust by the government on recyclability of packaging material and aligning itself with the developed world, we estimate that tin packaging shall be positioned as a preferable pack.
We at HTW – through our global campaign called Canvironment week – www.canvironmentweek.com have been spreading the message of cans being fully recyclable and have conducted several activities around it like fashion shows, music competition by using cans to play music, we have also adopted schools where the children of the ragpickers study through NGOs to uplift their lives. We also organise health camps to further contribute towards the recycling.
In Europe, they also say - “Metal recycles forever,” hence, it is a permanent material which is not going into landfill.
Is canned food, solution to food wastage and inadequate cold chain in India?
More than 50% of the food is wasted between the farm and the plate. India is an energy-deficient country and cold chain is obviously not available everywhere. Moreover the cost to preserve food in cold is almost 70% higher if you compare with cans as they are shelf-stable. Being a 200-year-old proven technology, canning machinery is easily available and so are cans. It is a solution which is ready, available and proven so the government should recognise this as a preferred mode of preservation and offer special incentives to the industry in order to promote the same and fight food waste.
Which companies in the food industry opt for your packaging solutions?
All across the globe, we serve the demands of a plethora of food clients. A few of them to name would be Nestle, Heinz, Nutricia, Amul, Del Monte, Golden Crown, Haldiram’s Group, Bikanerwala, Cadbury, Britannia, DS Group and Patanjali. From baby food to processed fruits, chocolates and cookies to drinks, our clients fall in almost all categories.
We would like to highlight the story about Haldiram’s – rasgulla / gulab jamun in cans are a perfect example of preservation of such critical products in cans which enable the brand to deliver the Indian delicacy not only through out the Indian market but export as well. And guess what – Without any Cold Chain!
How big is the packaging industry in India? At what rate is it growing? How much share it has in overall food packaging industry?
Packaging is the heart and soul of any product and it is the only tool of communication, which leads consumer to an impulse purchase; it is also known as the nine-second window and acts as a silent salesman for the brand and the product. Any mode of packaging should offer appropriate barrier properties, shelf life and printability to create brand recognition; should be tamper-proof, leakage- proof and ensure the right nutritional / aesthetic values of the product being packed inside the package.
According to the Indian Packaging Institute, Indian packaging industry is worth US$14 billion and growing at more than 15% p.a. out of which metal packaging industry has 5% share. The Indian packaging industry itself is growing at 14-15% annually. This growth rate is expected to double in the next two years. In the developed countries, the use of food and beverage cans is more than 10% out of the total packaging consumption and growing year on year.
Indian consumer has reduced consumption of food in loose /unpacked form and with modern / online retail being preferred formats of buying, the consumption of packed food will increase mani fold. Water being packed and sold is a classic example.
How developed is canned food market in India as compared to other countries?
India in the packaging category of food products is at an extremely nascent stage compared to the other developed nations. There is a magnificent degree of scope and improvement in terms of the canned food industry. This is one of the major reasons why companies make packaging material look at the next decade in an extremely bullish fashion. A lot of new products are expected to be launched in cans, moreover there is a huge import of canned food into India which sooner or later will be packed locally. The entire food service industry is a huge consumer of canned products specially in the cut fruits, vegetables category. With the growth in the food service sector the canned product volumes are expected to increase.
The per capita consumption of packaging in India is 1.7 kg. whereas if you compare it to China which is equally populated country, the consumption of packing per capita is almost 18 times which clearly shows the growth prospects of the industry. However, with the growing awareness of hygiene and safe food amongst the average consumer, it is estimated that India will be at par with the global canning industry in a couple of years.
Which are the untapped food products (baby food) /food segment that should adopt tin packaging?
The untapped food product / food segment who should adopt tin packaging in India are the products with huge export potential like coconut water, coconut milk, seafood, non-carbonated beverages are the few which are extremely popular globally in tin cans and generally the developed nations are being catered by countries like China and Thailand.
Tell us about the manufacturing plant in India. What technology upgradation is taking place in the company?
The manufacturing facility in Murthal spreads over 10 acre (40k sq. mt) and houses state-of-the-art machines imported from countries like the UK, Germany, USA, Taiwan, Italy, and Switzerland. Our printing and coating facility has highly sophisticated UV printing lines along with the conventional lines. For can formation, we have installed high speed, fully automatic integrated lines from Soudronic that automatically weld, and apply side seam protect coat. An automatic palletising system with online vision inspection cameras, towards the end of the manufacturing process, offers high speed and consistent pallet wrapping, without any human intervention.
Maintaining a highly mechanised manufacturing plant, we constantly aim at being at par with the international manufacturing units. With its latest world-class technology and equipment, HTW is capable of producing versatile containers. The fully integrated and automated manufacturing facility is supported by high-speed automatic printing and lacquering machines. An efficient tool room and photo litho department complements these technological strengths.
Further to this the company is continuously investing in quality upgradation by installing vision inspection cameras to ensure world-class quality levels for our customers like Nestle for baby food as well as for our export markets.
The company has also upgraded the printing technology from conventional to UV curing system to enhance the shelf appeal and print quality in the market.
Is your company into exports? If yes, to which countries and brands for which services?
Yes, our company is exporting to almost 30 countries primarily catering to the needs of other can manufacturing companies and we generally enter into long-term partnership with such companies by meeting the demands for specialised can components as well printed sheets.
We indirectly supply to the leading brands in various countries through such long-term tie-ups with local can manufacturing companies and HTWL has more than doubled the export sales in the last decade.
How much is the expected turnover of the company for year 2017-2018?
The company is expecting the manufacturing sales turnover of Rs 240 crore out of which the export is approximately 25% clearly indicating the high quality standards being maintained by HTWL.
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