As Cantech the Grand Tour draws to a close…
Greetings from Mumbai! The CanTech team is wrapping up with CanTech the Grand Tour and what a great couple of days it has been.
Coinciding with Holi Fest on Monday, we took the opportunity to go out into Mumbai and celebrate the festival, known as ‘playing Holi’ and see a bit of the city before the conference began. Holi is celebrated to recognise the beginning of spring, where people can bring joy into their lives and start afresh, much like Easter in other parts of the world. Coloured powders are thrown and smeared over your friends’ faces as you wish them Happy Holi and good fortunes. Sharing in the festivities felt like an apt way to begin the show.
Approximately 130 delegates joined us at the ITC Maratha Hotel Mumbai, global suppliers Stolle Machinery, INX International and Nordson among many others, and an array of can makers including Ball Beverage Packaging and CanPack India, who participated in the table top exhibition over all three days, or presented as part of the varied speaker programme.
While this is a slightly smaller show than Asia CanTech, attendees commented on the quality of the people, Mark Bell from Nordson adding that “everyone is here.” Dr Beth Graves, president of Prime Controls, also highlighted that smaller scale shows such as this can provide better networking opportunities as it is easier to interact with all the attendees.
Our keynote speaker for this event was Sanjay Bhatia, managing director of Hindustan Tin Works, who delivered an informative presentation discussing the Indian metal packaging industry and his positive outlook for it in the future. He added that the Metal Container Manufacturers’ Association (MCMA) is working to promote recyclability of metal packaging in the Indian market, which will in turn enable the sector to grow. PET bottles are still popular for Indian beverage consumption over aluminium cans, which may be due to the low recycling rates for packaging format, meaning that the cans have to be made from entirely new aluminium. Metal packaging in India is a developing market still, but many commented on the huge opportunities this presents for can makers.
Yesterday evening was the Gala Dinner and CanTech the Grand Tour Awards, which among the winners saw Bharat Containers win the aerosols category, JJ Enterprise win for innovation, and Canpack scoop up beverage two-piece, decorative two-piece as well as the Supreme Winner trophy for its Black Pearl beer can. This was due to the can’s excellent print registration, down to its minute design detail, using printing technology which uses minimal pressure to create fine, intricate lines for the graphics.
There will be a full length feature article with an overview of the whole event in the May issue of CanTech International.
- Kathryn Brand, associate editor, Bell Publishing
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