Tetra-Pak Weighs Foray Into Milk Packaging

Tetra-Pak India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of US$8-billion Swedish packaging major, Tetra Laval, is planning to enter into milk packaging in the country in a big way.

The company is currently working on the investment details of the project.

This will be the second major initiative after the company started its $60 million plant in Pune in January last year.

The unit in Takwe, near Pune, packages processed fruit juices and edible oils and also manufactures hi-tech packaging materials.

The company has decided to set up a milk processing unit or milk station at Hyderabad later this year, Gordon A Mayfield, vice-president, Tetra Pak told Business Standard.

 

The companys plans for similar ventures in other parts of the country is currently at the drawing board stage.

High tech aseptic packaging of milk will greatly increase the shelf life of the product and enable easy transportation under non-refrigerated conditions like other Tetra packed products, Mayfield said.

Currently, juice-based packaging and processing is the major segment in the country, but milk also has the potential to emerge as major growth area. The company also has four installations for processing edible oils.

Tetra-Pak India is currently in talks with a number of firms for providing high-tech processing machinery.

Tetra Pak provides total solutions to its customers including the latest in packaging concepts like slimline and pull tab forms.

The processing machinery are sourced from the parent, Tetra Laval.

The market for packaging in liquid food is still very low in the country compared to the rapidly expanding global market.

About 83 billion packages (227 million packages per day) of liquid food packed in Tetra Pak packaging were consumed world-wide in 1997 alone.