Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Sep 11, 2006
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Sep 11, 2006 ePaper |
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Industry & Economy - Foods & Food Processing Shortage of glass bottles puts processed food sector in a jam Sudha Menon
In glass houses Mapro Foods thinking of shifting packaging of its range into PET bottles A victim of the bottle shortage is the community of lid manufacturers
Pune , Sept. 10 Processed food manufacturers, especially in the small and medium sector, are finding themselves in a jam over the last two months over an extended shortage of glass bottles to pack their products that has forced some of them to stop production. The shortage of glass bottles came up in June and availability is now down by over 40 per cent with at least three out of the six bottle manufacturers in the country not in production owing to various factors including labour trouble. While supplies of jams, sauces, pickles filled in glass bottles are still trickling into the market from some of the manufacturers who had picked up large stocks of bottles in anticipation of the shortage, the situation is likely to change in the next month or so as there is no improvement in bottle supplies. Industry watchers point out that the closure of Pondicherry and Nashik - based glass units of H N Glass for six months now and that of Mahalaxmi Glass in Mumbai, has caused a major disruption in bottle supplies since the trio processed 500 mt glass/daily. In addition, Alembic Glass Industries is not in production for the last few months as it is undergoing furnace repairs. "We had to completely stop production of hot-filled products such as jams for a month and incurred substantial production losses because our order for bottles, placed in June, only came through by end August," says Mr Yadu Sankalia of Karen's Gourmet Kitchen. The company is now looking at alternative packaging material in plastic for its products Mapro Foods, the Panchgani, Maharashtra-based manufacturer of a range of branded jams, jellies, fruit squashes and syrups, is now thinking of shifting the packaging of its entire product range into PET bottles. While processed food manufacturers in the SME sector are now accusing the large players in the organised, branded segment of using their muscle to corner all the available supplies, the bottle manufacturers themselves point out that the former are in trouble largely because of the unplanned nature of their production planning and their tendency to depend on a single source for supplies. "Large companies typically give us an annual contract which we have to deliver no matter what the situation in the market and this is why they are not affected by the current situation," one large bottle manufacturer said. An unintended victim of the bottle shortage is the community of lid manufacturers in the unorganised and SME sector which has been finding the source of its bread, butter and jam uncertain.
Related Stories: More Stories on : Glass | Foods & Food Processing
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