PACKING a Punch

Manish Agarwal, Business Head (New Business), Manjushree Technopack, discusses with Kanishka Ramchandani the trends in primary packaging and its importance for the cosmetic industry.

Tell us about your personal experience in the cosmetic packaging industry?

Packaging plays a significant role in the cosmetic industry because different designs and appearances are important for end consumers as they attract their attention and help them choose the right products.

The newer entrants are able to specifically get a successful entry, if they have a differentiated positioning and branding, which is done through packaging. Packaging is what starts the decision making process in the consumer’s mind whether or not to buy the product. That’s why most cosmetic companies put lot of efforts both in primary and second secondary packaging by having different colours, fonts, types of containers in different designs or dispensing solutions, which they are providing with respect to customer comfort or appeal.

How long have you been in this industry?

I am working in the packaging industry since the last seven years.

Have you always dealt with cosmetic packaging only? No, no. It’s in all segments. I worked for four years with Jindal Poly Films. They are flexible packaging, and now, for almost three and a half years with Manjushree Technopack. They are into rigid plastic packaging and we cover all the sectors.

What can you tell us specifically about cosmetic packaging, especially the product offering that you have?

Manjushree Technopack Limited is mainly into primary packaging. We offer mainly products in the rigid plastic packaging space. The products that we offer in primary packaging mainly include jar bottles, containers, dispensers and cap closures with different neck designs as well as different kind of appearancebased designs as per brand requirements with value add-on.

When you say value add, do you mean packaging innovations?

Both the aspects - it can be innovation or it can be supply support. We have partnered in solutions like converting from a glass bottle to a plastic bottle. So, value add-ons are in terms of fast deliveries, supply chain dynamics, etc, becaue Manjushree has overall 23 manufacturing sites. And this gives us leverage in terms of fast service ability to the customer where they want as our plants are located across India, covering all the regions of India.

What kind of clientele do you cater to for cosmetics? In cosmetic industry we cater to all the segments, whether it is personal care, skincare, haircare, perfume and beauty. In terms of brands, we cater to MNC brands like L’Oréal and P&G, and the new age D2C companies like Mamaearth, WOW and Plum. So, we cover all these segments and thereby cover the entire cosmetic industry.

What according to you is the differentiating factor in packaging for cosmetic products and for other FMCG products?

In cosmetic industry, the design element plays a very important part. It helps the product to stand out against the competition. We support the cosmetic industry with the value added features such as sleeving, UV metallisation, shrinking sleeving and metallic finishes, if they require them on their plastic packaging.

Manjushree generally has a tailored designed-todelivery approach to fulfil all our customer’s needs. So, we engage ourselves in the process right from the early design stage up to the commercial production stage. This helps us to reduce the lead times, accelerate customer launches and reduce the overall cost for the customers because we work from design to delivery. So, we partner with them in terms of designing, prototyping and delivery. It helps the cosmetic industry players to innovate and launch the products with quick timelines.

WE ENGAGE OURSELVES IN THE PROCESS right from the early design stage up to the commercial production stage. This helps us to reduce the lead times, accelerate CUSTOMER LAUNCHES AND REDUCE THE OVER ALL COST FOR THE CUSTOMERS.

Where do you source your raw material from?

Mostly it is Indian. However, if there is specific requirement where we are not able to find a local source, we do import, but predominantly the sourcing is done in India.

Tell us about your technological innovations?

Manjushree has the capability to produce a variety of plastic moulding technologies from IMM, IBM, EBM to ISBM. And in addition to plastic moulding technologies, we have tie-ups with the best-in-class machine suppliers across the world to provide us with high quality machines. And in turn, we are able to service our customers with high quality products. As mentioned, we are present at 23 manufacturing sites across India, which helps us to speed-up the deliveries and improve the connectivity to our customers based on their requirements, in addition to our key product offering of jar bottles option. Moreover, we have done brownfield expansion through acquisition and we have widened the variety of dispensers and closure options available. We are, therefore, able to give cosmetic companies a unique design proposition where not only are we offering the bottles and jars, but we are also providing them with dispensing solutions. That’s why they can depend on Manjushree as a complete solution provider, in terms of primary packaging in rigid space. A few of our facilities have clean room conditions, and our manufacturing sites are accredited with ISO certifications.

Since you are mostly dealing with plastic as a raw material, we come to the question of sustainability. From your standpoint as packaging manufacturer, What’s your stand on sustainability?

Sustainability is gathering sound momentum now and Manjushree is a leader in terms of providing sustainable solutions to its customer. We have set up our own PCR plant in Bangalore, which is fully commissioned. This plant has a capacity to produce 6,000 tonnes of resin,

Manjushree directly sources input materials, such as the PCW, by partnering with Sahas, an NGO. The cleaning is done at our plants. We process the waste and convert it into high quality PCR resin. We actively tie-up with customers for new bottle launches with PCR resin and we have already done a couple of launches with customer collaborations. In addition to the plastic related sustainability, Manjushree has 60 per cent of its production being manufactured through renewable power sources such as wind and solar energy. So overall, Manjushree as a company is very focused on the ESG aspect.