Tetra Pak has invested EURO100 million in the construction of a new factory in India that is to serve the local market as well as South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East, according to DairyReporter.com.
The report quoted Kandarp Singh, the managing director of Tetra Pak India, saying that economic development and urbanisation in India are driving big increases in demand for packaged food and milk is no exception.
India is both the biggest producer and consumer of milk worldwide and although around two-thirds of milk consumed is unpackaged, the packaged proportion is expanding fast.
By building a new packaging material facility in Chakan, India near Pune, Tetra Pak intends to take full advantage of this trend.
According to its June 2009 Dairy Index report, consumption of milk sold in cartons has grown at a rate of 24.6% in recent years. Tetra Pak is therefore keen to increase its annual production capacity in India and allow for anticipated future growth.
The market for carton packaged dairy and fruit-based drinks is expected to grow from 757 million litres in 2010 to 1.3 billion litres by 2013 in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, according to the report.
Tetra Pak already has a manufacturing site in Pune but it has been in operation for nearly 14 years and is reaching its full capacity of 5 billion packages. The new Pune plant will have an initial annual production capacity of 8.5 billion packages, with the potential of increasing to 16 billion packages.
Tetra Pak said the factory, besides serving the milk market, will also serve fruit-based drinks market and manufacture for foreign markets in South and Southeast Asia and the Middle East. – Source: DairyReporter.com