R K Jain- President (Corporate Finance & Strategies), Uflex

What is Uflex’s vision?
With a vision to ‘Progress with Distinction’, Uflex is privileged to contribute to society by producing a variety of Eco-friendly value added flexible packaging materials, plastic films and packaging equipments thereby providing world class flexible packaging solutions to its customers globally.

What kind of packaging solutions do you provide?
Uflex offers finished packaging of a wide variety of products such as snack foods, candy and confectionery, sugar, rice & other cereals,  beverages, tea & coffee, desert mixes, noodles, wheat flour, soaps and detergents, shampoos & conditioners, vegetable oil, spices, marinates & pastes, cheese & dairy products, frozen food, sea food, meat, anti-fog, pet food, pharmaceuticals, contraceptives, garden fertilizers and plant nutrients, motor oil and lubricants, automotive and engineering components etc.

Tell us about your overseas presence.
Today, Uflex’s strong multi location manufacturing base in India, Mexico, Dubai and Egypt catering to global markets spanning USA, Canada, South America, UK, Europe, Russia, CIS countries, South Africa and other African countries, the Middle East and the South Asian Countries.

What according to you are the achievements for Uflex?
Reaching millions of homes everyday, UFLEX has emerged as a fully-integrated packaging player on the global front. Uflex started its business in 1985 with small investments achieved exceptional growth over last two and half decades and closed its FY 2010 with annual revenues of about INR 30 billion and Gross Capital Investment across the world of about INR 26 billion.  It aims to be a billion dollar company in next two year horizon. Its historic achievements in brief are as under:

What is your manufacturing capacity?
Uflex has world class plastic film manufacturing facilities in India, Dubai, Mexico and Egypt (current-  195,000 TPA; By FY 2012 - 267,000 TPA) and packaging products at multiple locations in India (current-  54,000 TPA; By FY 2012 -  82,000 TPA) accredited by ISO/BRC/HACCP

What have been objectives for Uflex for the consistent growth?
With an objective to become a leading company in the world with complete flexible packaging solutions to our customers and create maximum value for all our stakeholders Uflex will continue its philosophy of providing world class flexible packaging solutions, with entire product packaging value chain, to customers in both the domestic and international market at competitive prices. In order to serve our customers with better and quick deliveries as well as reduced shipping with reduced freight cost we have started expanding globally into different regions in order to get closer to the customers. Our focus will remain on growth with innovations and continue to improve operational excellence.

What is your take on the Indian packaging industry and its future?
At a compound annual growth rate of 17 per cent, the Indian flexible packaging market is one of the most dynamic and fastest growing in the country. As the advantage of flexible packaging of lesser storage space, easy handling, and cost effectiveness with better aesthetic factors becomes increasingly appreciated, traditional rigid packaging will take a backseat. Flexible packaging scores better over traditional packaging for such reasons.
Flexible packaging also offers the advantage of packing smaller quantities compared to traditional packaging and hence, middle class consumers, who comprise of a major section of the Indian society, have the choice of purchasing just the required products. The flexible packaging market has excellent growth potential in the food and processed food, personal care, FMCG and retail sector. The demand for smaller packaging and increasing consumerism due to higher purchasing power has been a boon for the flexible packaging market. However, there is a certain lack of quality consciousness among some end users and they tend to gravitate towards low-grade products, thereby restricting the higher growth of flexible packaging materials.

What have been key growth drivers for Uflex in the recent times?
We are going forward with the vertical integration for providing complete flexible packaging solutions with keeping flexibility in innovation and product development in the mind. With world class manufacturing facilities strategically in place around the world we aim to deliver quality products timely. We have been successful in commissioning our projects before time with minimum capital cost and having excellent operational efficiency for higher productivity which is backed by our strong sales and distribution team who are tapping diversified and valuable customers with global business potential. We are expanding globally and have been able to extend our reach across the world with better services to customers with lesser logistics expenditures.