Futura Polyesters to bring in CPET packaging in India

Chennai-based Futura Polyesters Limited, a player in the CPET (Crystalline Polyethylene Terephthalate) containers market, proposes to bring in the concept of CPET packaging in the domestic market for the first time.

The company is already involved in the production and export of CPET containers, which are ideal for packaging a wide variety of food products"� frozen, refrigerated, pre-cooked and fresh, because of their tendency to resist temperature extremes from -40 C to 220 C.

"CPET is also ideal for frozen food products that are heated in trays. CPET trays can be taken directly from the freezer and heated in microwave or conventional ovens, including fan-assisted ovens. This meets the consumer's need for impact strength at low temperatures and dimensional stability at high temperatures," said S Srinagesh, senior manager of the company.

The specialty lies in the fact that after its use as food packaging, CPET trays can be reused for secondary, non-food purposes.When incinerated, CPET produces more energy than it consumes, and can re-enter the natural cycle, he added.

Speaking to Business Standard, he said that Futura Polyesters is producing the resins for CPET trays and is exporting them to Faerch Plast, a Denmark-based packaging company.

"We want to utilise the growing market for frozen foods in India and so we plan to introduce the product in the domestic market in the next two months," he added.

The new facility will be set up in their existing factory at Manali. However, he declined to disclose the investments that would be incurred. Regarding the pricing strategy, he commented that it would be competitively priced at the rate of aluminium foils that are widely used at present.

Pepsi, Coke, GE and Shell, Honeywell, Faerchplast, BP, Mitsubishi, Kodak are some of the companies with whom Futura is working on product development. The company posted a turnover of Rs 490 crore last fiscal and proposes to register Rs 500 crore this fiscal.