It was in September 2023, that SIG, a leading systems and solutions provider for aseptic carton packaging, laid the foundation of its 10th global aseptic carton plant in Ahmedabad. A year down the line, the Swiss-based packaging giant is all set to start operations in the western city of India by the end of the year.
During his recent visit to the Ahmedabad plant, Samuel Sigrist, Chief Executive Officer of SIG Group, shared details about the plant, the company’s strategic vision for India, and its commitment to promoting sustainable packaging.
The state-of-the-art production capacity
Outlining the details of the Ahmedabad facility, Samuel said the company is positive about starting the operations by the end of the year and ramping it up through the first quarter of next year. “While the initial or first phase is still under construction, we have already signed off on phase two, which is going to be a further localization of the value chain,” he said.
SIG has planned to invest €100 million in the manufacturing facility. The initial investment of approximately €60 million will be made over the period 2023–2025, to reach production capacity of up to 4 billion packs per annum. Subsequent investments would be made in later phases to increase capacity up to 10 billion packs per annum. The completion of the second phase of the plant will allow the company to source raw materials locally.
The strategy for growth in India
Underlining the importance of India, Samuel asserted, “We look at India as our growth engine for the next coming years, because over the past four to five years since market entry, we have established an excellent platform,” he said. Since its re-entry in the Indian market in 2018, SIG has collaborated with all the major dairy and beverage brands in the country, including Parle Agro, Amul, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Milky Mist, KMF, Heritage Dairy, Haldiram’s, Dabur, ITC, CreamLine Dairy and Hamdard. He added, “I have not seen any other market where we were able to establish ourselves as fast as this has happened in India.”
On SIG’s future plans, Vandana Tandan, Head of Markets for India and Bangladesh at SIG, emphasized on the company’s focus on aligning with evolving market demands by bringing global innovations to India, customized to meet local customer needs.
She added, “Our technology allows customers to fill packages of various volumes on a single filling line, with the ability to switch between sizes in under five minutes. This flexibility supports product launches at multiple price points.” Furthermore, SIG is working on introducing premium formats like SIG DomeMini, while simultaneously boosting machine speeds to enhance productivity while offering flexibility.”
The commitment to sustainability and innovation
Reaffirming SIG’s commitment to sustainability and innovation, Samuel said, “Number one innovation priority is to make our product even more sustainable.” He added that along with it, the focus will always be to help customers stay competitive in the market by offering them advanced technology, allowing them to produce more efficiently, in addition to providing benefits to the consumers with their innovative packaging.
He also emphasised on the importance of reducing the overall carbon footprint, adding that 75% of their materials are derived from forests. “100% of what we source is certified by FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), which is the highest standard for sustainable forestry management. Our industry is decades beyond deforestation. We also have a commitment as a company, together with WWF, to create an additional 600,000 hectares of sustainably managed forest,” he added.