News Items - International Association of Packaging Research Institutes
The promise of Indian insights – and delights
This summer’s IAPRI Members’ Conference in Mumbai, India, promises persuasive benefits - above all to in-person attendees - that many of us during the worst of the pandemic did without for too long, organizer Prasad Balan Iyer explains.

Iyer, who is director of the SIES School of Packaging (SoP) in Navi Mumbai, points out that, as many IAPRI members have returned to visiting shows, conferences and other events over recent months, this has reminded them of the ‘added value’ of face-to-face attendance.
 
“I’m sure that most would agree that the online mode of conferences misses out on engaging in a higher level of communication between delegates,” he tells IAPRI. “Face-to-face interactions also aid in easier collaboration, innovation and the building of social capital. In addition, the casual chat also doubles as a morale-booster for new delegates and helps to improve their confidence.”
 
He holds IAPRI up as an “amazing example over the years” of an international association which has sustained strong bonds between member organizations, thanks to in-person participation in annual events. A return to this model across the diverse membership will only serve to strengthen those bonds still further.
 
Keynotes and country notes
 
According to SIES, engaging panel discussions and several keynote sessions will support the theme running through the Conference: Responsible Packaging for a Better Future. The two keynote speakers confirmed by the end of February were: Ramjee Subramanian, business head at Pakka Impact, Bengaluru, India; and Kirtiraj Gaikwad of the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. Subramanian will be talking about ‘Innovation at Scale: Regenerative Packaging for a Cleaner Planet’, while Gaikwad will be presenting the ‘Latest Research & Developments in the Area of Food Packaging’.
 
This is the first time that an IAPRI Conference has come to India – and at a particularly exciting time, given the dynamic state of the Indian packaging sector.
 
“India’s is today the fourth-largest packaging industry in the world, worth over USD 50 billion,” Iyer says. “Currently the fifth-largest sector of India’s economy, the packaging industry has reported steady growth over several years, and shows great potential for continued expansion, particularly in export markets.”
 
Compared with parts of Europe, the cost of processing and packing food in India can be up to 40% lower. This advantage, along with the country’s resources of skilled labour, make it a particularly attractive target for investment, he says.
 
Meanwhile, packaging material exports grew by nearly 10% between 2021 and ’22, to reach USD 1,119 million. The US remains the leading export destination for packaging, followed by the UK, the UAE, the Netherlands and Germany.
 
India is already embracing the ‘responsibility’ and ‘better future’ themes identified by the IAPRI Conference. “With the Indian Government’s push on plastics waste management guidelines and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regulations, packaging materials and sustainability are already a major area of research,” Iyer explains.
 
All the same, he adds, there remain relatively few institutes across India that carry out packaging research. “We believe that the IAPRI Conference coming to India for the first time will catalyze packaging research in the country. The event will see the participation of packaging converters and end-user industries, as well, which I’m sure will be keen to pursue international collaboration.”
 
There will be panel discussions on the growth potential of Indian packaging research and education, involving keynote speakers Gaikwad and Subramanian, who both have valuable experience of their own in these areas.
 
Culture and campus
 
There will be no shortage of excitement outside the confines of the conference hall. The organizers underscore the rich variety of Indian arts, tradition, culture and languages stretching back over thousands of years. “Delegates will witness snapshots of these during the IAPRI dinner gatherings, with dance, music and other performances,” Iyer reveals.
 
He also points out that over 70% of the world’s spices are produced in India, and attendees will be able to sample some of the “choicest flavours” from the rich regional diversity on offer. “We’ll ensure we keep the spice level ‘optimised’ to suit the international audience,” Iyer adds.
 
Curated tours of Mumbai city, with its “bustling pace and vibrancy”, will be a key feature of the Conference’s social program, says SIES.
 
The SIES SoP itself is a fast-evolving venue. Founded in 2001 by the South Indian Education Society, it has become a major provider of a skilled workforce to Indian and international businesses, Iyer reports. Key educational components here have been the full-time Postgraduate Diploma and the Graduate Diploma (executive level, part-time and distance learning), both available since the creation of the school.
 
“SIES SoP recently started a new three-month online program – the Intensive Certificate Course in Packaging (ICCP), which is self-paced and can be enrolled on at any time of the year,” he explains. “ICCP is suited to entrepreneurs, and even to those who have no formal packaging background. The course has seen enrolment from India, the UAE and Sri Lanka.”
 
Alongside its educational achievements, with its “state-of-the-art” infrastructure, SIES SoP says it has been providing technical support to the Indian packaging industry through laboratory testing, industrial research and consultancy. As a part of this service, it has helped to guide companies from conventional to more sustainable packaging.
 
One area of recent activity has been research and packaging development with bio-based materials.
 
“The last few years have also seen the School of Packaging facilitate ISTA’s  Transport Environment Data Collection Study in India for Consumer Packaged Goods,” says Iyer.
 
Since 2017, the school has sponsored its own SIES SoP Star Awards, recognised as a national award by the WPO, helping to identify talent across the Indian packaging industry.
 











Last but not least, SIES continues to invest in new building infrastructure, including a new block close to the exiting site. “If everything goes to plan, Conference delegates should be able to visit the new SoP premises, come May 2023,” says Iyer.
 
For further updates on the Conference and program, including additional keynote speakers, as they are confirmed, go to: www.iaprimumbai.com
 
 

Published: 02/25/23