Sidel eyes more market share in India; to increase headcount

Sidel, a leading global provider of poly ethylene terephthalate (PET) solutions for liquid packaging, aims to increase its share in the Indian beverage packaging market to 50 per cent from the existing 33 per cent in the next three years.
The French firm, which has a manufacturing facility at Pune and which supplies its products to companies like Bisleri and Coca Cola, is also looking at increasing its headcount in the country to 200 in the next five years from 120 now.
"We want to increase our market share in the liquid packaging market in India to 50 per cent from the currently existing mark of 33 per cent in the next three years" Sidel India Managing Director Laurent Fournier told PTI here.

He was speaking on the margins of India International PackTech, an exhibition and conference of processing, packaging and printing companies.
At present, Sidel's annual sales turnover in India was 40 million euro, whereas the overall market-size of beverage packaging industry in the country currently stands at 120 million euro. Other players in this space include German firms like KHS and Kroner.
"The existing market size of such equipment in the country stands at Euro 120 million. It has been witnessing a cyclic growth at the rate of Euro 40 million every year for the past few years," he said.

The manufacturing capacity of Sidel's Pune unit, which makes packaging products for beverages like milk, water and beer, stands at 60-80 machines per annum.

"I believe that overall market will double in India over the next four years. Our target is to capture a major chunk of this growth," Fournier added.
The company is focusing on blowing segment of the liquid packaging industry to achieve its goal. "I'm looking at increasing my share in the Indian market. In particular, we are interested in manufacturing blowing machines," he said.
"We want to provide a turn-key solution for the beverage packaging industry here. Hence, we are looking at having a complete line of production in the segment which include blowing machine,capping and even filling."
Talking about the hiring plan, Fournier said Sidel India was planning to hire 80 people over the next five years so as to increase its manpower to 200 from 120. Worldwide, the company employs 5,500 staff.