Authenticity in packaging is one of the primary factors that attract consumer attention. Especially, when it comes to the fashion and lifestyle industry outlook of a product and the sophistication in it is a driving factor for the sales. Packaging of a perfume ought to be attractive enough for a consumer to admire it at the store before buying it. The cosmetic industry has always been a little stricter about creativity in packaging compared to other product manufacturing sectors. There must always be an appeal in the final packaging of a perfume that will ensure a sense of trust in the end consumer.
Programs that have been launched by the government of India to transform the country into a global manufacturing hub will be a reason for the growth of the cosmetic packaging industry. Moreover, the e-commerce boom has multiplied the packaging needs for the cosmetic companies. The market now demands sustainable packaging that increases the brand value of the product and stands testimony to the everlasting attribute of it.
"Starting with designing a concept and going all the way to executing the entire project with timely delivery and the right quality product is one of our specialities and our customers can vouch for that"
Chirag Pack(India) Pvt Ltd. based out of Mumbai is a prominent name in packaging for cosmetic products and specializes in perfume, deodorants and cosmetic packaging. “The industry that we cater to is extremely challenging and demanding. We have to be on our toes 24/7 with regards to thinking out of the box and delivering beautiful, elegant, or robust designs to our customers who always keep on demanding something new in terms of design ora concept. Today our customer needs a cap to have an individuality. That’s where Chirag Pack scores high in the industry because we can deliver those exceptional components to go withthe customer concepts,” says Madhav Kamat, Chairman & Managing Director, Chirag Pack.
Making Customised Designs
Being a part of the industry for close to four decades, the company has the knowledge regarding each and every challenge faced by clients while availing primary packaging. Chirag Pack has a strict policy of adhering to the client specifications when making customised designs for them in their inhouse facility. They firmly believe that a customer’s design should be done with full confidentiality and that is how they have managed to make over 200 private projects in the last 3 years. And, these are apart from their standard designs that they make for their own library and offer to multiple customers. Once the designs are approved by the clients, system based production process ensures timely deliveries with the help of fast and automatic production line. It also ensures that the company maintains its commitment schedule and deliveries are made just in time, thus trying to solve a major issue in the client’s inventory management.
Chirag pack started with a single machine and has added 35 more injection moulding machines with state of the art technology in its repertoire over a period of years. The annual production of caps used to be around 10 million few years back and now annually they produce over 100 million caps From adding simple decoration like hot foil stamping to doing more expansive metalizing colours like gold, silver etc. and various other finishes, like the classy matt finish to the ever popular soft touch. The decorations on these caps are being done at Pioneer Decopack which is the sister concern for Chirag Pack. Pioneer Decopack has the most technologically advanced decoration lines where all kinds of finishes are being done.
Long Legacy Of 40 Years
Chirag Pack started out in 1980 as the manufacturer of engineering and pharmaceutical products but diverted its services towards the cosmetics industry in 1990. The company saw a rising demand in cosmetic products and decided to concentrate on its packaging. It has catered to some of the giants in the Indian FMCG industry, and to be very specific, in the perfumes and deodorant sectors. Chirag Pack today stands as the leading end to end customised solution provider for its client in the cosmetic industry. “Starting with designing a concept and going all the way to executing the entire project with timely delivery and the right quality product is one of our specialities and our customers can vouch for that,” states Mihir Madhav Kamat, Director.
Chirag pack has been awarded as the best manufacturing unit in 2005 by government of maharashtra
The cosmetic packaging market contributes considerably to the overall packaging market share and is well ahead of few other packaging domains. Also demand for more stylish and innovative packaging is increasing around the country due to the excess demand of cosmetic products.
Chirag Pack has also been awarded as the best manufacturing unit in 2005 by government of Maharashtra. The same award has been conferred upon Pioneer Decopack in the year 2017. Chirag Pack proudly says that they are also one of the participants of Make in India campaign which has been the dream project of Prime Minister Sri. Narendra Modi. Chirag pack and Pioneer Decopack have also played a huge role in generating employment for the local men and women in the area. Today the company stands 300 plus employees strong and along with the employment also plays a huge part in the social responsibility like organising sports tournaments, observing health check up for the locals, school scholarships at the local school and many other things.
Mihir Madhav Kamat, Director
The Future Ahead
Technological advancement and self development has always been Chirag Pack’s vision. They have also walked ahead for all these years with the same mindset.They have introduced robot operated machines to their factory at the start of 2020. These machines are a novelty in their industry simply because they do not operate like the ones from pharmaceutical industry where the same product runs for multiple weeks. Integration of robotics in cosmetics packaging consists of itsown specifications which is very well administered by the experts at Chirag Pack. With the experience of the industry the company tries to meet customer expectations and ensure delivery on time.
On time delivery also means safe receipt of goods by the customer. Madhav Kamat says "We make products that basically protect the perfume and the spray pump but our products also need the right kind of protection till they reach our customer. Plastic has been banned which we have used earlier to pack our goods. Now we are trying to find alternatives including the likes of honeycombs so that the components are housed properly on all sides”.
The perfume industry being an integral part of the fashion and lifestyle industry it must continue to experiment with different styles of packaging and make it as much customer friendly as possible. So, it is finally upon the packaging provider to ensure that all the coordinates are where they need to be. Despite being a B2B structure, it is the responsibility of the packaging provider to analyse the impact on the end consumer and formulate packaging patters according to it. The increased presence of global multinational companies, consumer brand awareness and products with ‘cleanlabel'messaging will augur well for the industry.
Mihir is of the opinion that with traditional businesses preferring quality packaging of products the industry is growing at a robust pace and the addition of demand from new entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises will also contribute to the overall growth of the industry.
Having acquired expertise in the art of manufacturing and decoration, the company’s next vision is to automate the entire setup where they can optimise the output of production, assembly, decoration and timely dispatches. “In addition, we also plan to start a new arm which manufactures closures other than plastic. Wood, aluminium and zamac are some materials we plan to concentrate in the initial stages. We also see Chirag Pack exploring its direct business in other parts of the world where we are yet to be present,” concludes Madhav.
