We Have Been Sailing On The Tide Of Expansion

In this exclusive interaction, Rajesh Bhatia, Group CFO, UFlex, outlines the company’s strategy in terms of sustainability while also sharing information about how the company has been on an expansion spree in recent times both in India and outside

- Rajesh Bhatia

What is flexible packaging? What is your take on global flexible packaging markets and business outlook of UFlex?

Flexible packaging is a light-weight packaging made out of polymer structures. While it is used for a variety of applications, it’s most common use is in primary food packaging to protect food from degrading and extending its shelf life. Flexible packaging delivers several other virtues and values such as barrier properties, aesthetics, convenience of transportation, storage and use, security and easy recyclability to all its stakeholders that includes manufacturers, brands and consumers and finally for the environment as well. Common examples of flexible packaging include bags, pouches, shrink films, tubes, blister packs, etc.

As per a report by Allied Market Research, the global flexible packaging market has been valued at USD 182.3 billion in 2020 and owing to its CAGR of 6.2 per cent is projected to reach USD 325.6 billion by the year 2030. This growth is witnessed on account of higher per capita income, increased focus on hygiene and packaged foods since the outbreak of the pandemic and innovation-driven focus of packaging converters and brands. Also, the ease of recycling flexible packaging has seen an increased shift from rigid to flexible packaging.

As the biggest flexible packaging company in India, UFlex has been sailing on the tides of expansion, robust order book and volume growth. Since the last fiscal, with the commissioning of greenfield and brownfield projects for packaging film manufacturing facilities at strategic locations across the globe, UFlex has achieved almost 40 per cent YoY jump in its H1 sales volume in FY22 for packaging films. In FY22, H1 revenues were up by 37 per cent YoY and for the entire fiscal year 2021-22 as a whole, we are confident of maintaining the momentum.