Essel Propack Sees ‘Exciting Opportunities’ In Post-Pandemic World
Essel Propack sees product and people safety driving demand in sectors ranging from healthcare and sanitation to food and pharma.
Plastics maker Essel Propack Ltd. sees "exciting opportunities for growth" in the post-pandemic world, with product and people safety driving demand in sectors such as healthcare and sanitation and food and pharma.
The company, which developed a tube for packing hand sanitisers within 15 days, said that in the last two months it has helped more than 50 brands go to market with hand sanitiser products globally.
"As we emerge from this pandemic, we anticipate a big surge in demand in areas like PPEs (personal protective equipment), sanitation, food and pharma,” the company said in its annual report for 2019-20. “Product and people safety will become more important. These represent exciting opportunities for growth, and we're in a great position to seize them.”
Essel Propack said as the world arose to the criticality of washing hands several times a day, the company's customers faced challenges in rising to meet the meteoric rise in demand.
"Sanitisers were hitherto only marketed in bottles, and this was a seriously limiting factor. So, we stepped up, and in just 15 days, made a difference. We developed a tube for packing hand sanitisers, ideal to carry and use. We were first to market in India, as also in several other countries," the company said.
"This got us sizeable business, not to mention immense respect from our marquee clients, whose brands rode on our innovation," it said. “We are now working on more disruptive packaging ideas to democratise access to these critical products for the needy across the world.”
The company said it has already secured large orders from leading companies globally and has a healthy pipeline for hand sanitizer tubes. It has also fast-tracked regulatory approvals and safety measures to keep its factories running during the lockdowns. "The pandemic has spurred several new ideas, including electronic commerce, low-touch relationship building and new ways of remote working that will keep us leaner.”
Essel Propack, however, said its India business passed through tough macroeconomic environment during the year and was also impacted by Covid-19 in the last quarter of FY20. But "adversity is, after all, an opportunity in disguise", the company said.