Tetra Pak Conducts "30 Years in India" Exclusive Leadership Seminar

  

Tetra Pak, Switzerland, a global food processing and packaging solutions company, this year is celebrating 30 years in India. To mark this momentous occasion, Tetra Pak organized an exclusive leadership seminar—Today, Tomorrow, Together—playing host to more than 100 leaders from the Indian F&B industry, in addition to representatives from the government and other organizations.

 

The first day saw a celebration of Tetra Pak's three-decade long journey in India, looking back at key milestones and enduring partnerships with iconic brands that have virtually shaped the course of the food and beverage industry in the country. 

 

 

In his keynote address, Jayant Sinha, Honorable Minister of State for Civil Aviation, spoke about the importance of affordable and frugal innovation in a country like India. Referring to Tetra Pak's tetrahedron-shaped Tetra Classic® Aseptic packaging, he said that "India is leading the revolution around affordability and frugal innovation. In India, for us, frugal development is not just desirable but a necessity. I was very excited when I spoke to the team at Tetra Pak and they told me about this 'samosa' pack. This is a perfect example of how, with the right packaging at the right price point, you can start to unlock markets, enable trial, and get people to start to change their consumption behavior.

"If we can deliver a combination of quality and affordability, we can unlock vast markets. That is why I am so excited about what Tetra Pak is doing. Because I think they are creating these service and product units, which are at a very affordable price point, but because of their unique technology, they have the quality which is necessary," Sinha added.

This was followed by a special presentation by Meetul Patel, chief operating officer—Microsoft India—where he talked about "the Future of Tech" and the chief drivers of India's digital transformation, including how these are likely to impact the food and beverage industry. "We are entering a period where information technology and the physical world are intersecting to transform business value chains, and the way we live and work. The Internet of Things, Virtual/Augmented reality, Natural Computing Interfaces like voice and gesture, and Artificial Intelligence are enabling breakthrough solutions and new opportunities for growth. The digital transformation over the next few years will be unlike anything we have experienced," he said.

Jeff Fromm, noted U.S.-based speaker and author of Marketing to Millennials, outlined what 'the future consumer" would be like and how brand owners can prepare themselves for the evolving needs of consumers during the next few years. The last presentation for the day by Libby Costin, Tetra Pak's VP, marketing for South Asia, East Asia, and Oceania, spoke about the "Future of Food & Packaging" and the external forces that will affect the industry.

The second half of the day included two panel discussions on Food safety and Sustainability, bringing together an eclectic mix of industry leaders, government representatives, and other key opinion leaders who shared their perspectives on "how to strengthen India's food safety framework" and "key success factors for implementing the Extended Producer Responsibility legislation."

On day two of the event, attendees got a glimpse of the future through a showcase of some of the technologies and cutting-edge innovations being developed by Tetra Pak to help brands meet the evolving needs of the consumers and succeed in the market. These innovations, in the areas of food and beverage packaging, processing, services, and sustainability, included new shapes and sizes, a carton-based alternative to cans and glass for shelf-stable food, complete end-to-end solutions for food processing and packaging incorporating the latest AR/VR technologies; automation solutions through Tetra Pak PlantMaster for greater control and operational efficiencies; besides digitalization of services through tools such as the Microsoft HoloLens.

Dennis Jonsson, president and CEO, Tetra Pak Group, said that "India is one of our fastest growing markets and we are very upbeat about the opportunities that it offers. Our investments here underscore that point, and reflect the positive sentiment we hear from our customers, both here in India as well as in other parts of Asia. Since I joined Tetra Pak more than three decades ago, India has been the market to watch. It is set to play an important role in the next phase of growth for our company."

Commenting on the customer leadership seminar, Kandarp Singh, managing director of Tetra Pak South Asia Markets, said that, "we are very proud to be celebrating 30 years in India this year. We brought our pioneering aseptic technology for food and beverages into India because we felt that this technology was 'made for India.' Since the commencement of our operations in India in 1987, it has been a long and fulfilling journey built on our brand promise—PROTECTS WHAT'S GOOD™. We are really grateful to our customers, especially those with whom we have enjoyed a long and strong partnership for the last few decades."

More information about Tetra Pak is available online.