At Drinktec India 2025 in Mumbai, Varun Beverages, Asia’s largest and the world’s second-largest PepsiCo bottler, showcased its growing footprint in packaging manufacturing. In an interaction with Packaging South Asia at the expo, Srikanth Ekambaram, vice president – packaging operations, introduced the company’s packaging portfolio, pointing out that it is a pivotal strategy in the diversification journey beyond beverage production.
“Our presentation focused purely on showcasing our packaging capabilities,” Ekambaram said during the interaction. The portfolio includes metal crown caps, plastic closures, EP liquor closures, stretch and shrink films, plastic crates, and several components used extensively in beverage packaging. While these products were originally developed for captive use within the organization, they are now being positioned for external demand both domestically and internationally.
Varun Beverages’ decision to invest in packaging operations stems from its scale and ambition within the beverage ecosystem. With strong and rapidly growing production volumes across beverage and juice categories, the company recognized the importance of secured supply chains and backward integration. “When we talk about our beverage manufacturing capabilities, it comes with a challenge of providing the packaging solutions also. Thereby, what we have done is backward integration to complement our mainstream business,” Ekambaram said.
According to him, the benefits of this strategy include reduced dependency on third-party suppliers, improved cost efficiency and operational reliability, ability to maintain consistent product and process quality, and capacity to serve as a contract manufacturer and supplier to the market. He said major domestic and international customers have already shown strong interest in sourcing these solutions.
“The growth of the packaging industry is directly proportional to the growth of the beverage and juice market,” Ekambaram stated. As Varun Beverages continues its growth to become the world’s largest franchise beverage manufacturer in the Pepsi ecosystem, packaging becomes not just a functional support system but a parallel revenue-generating and innovation-driven business line.
Drinktec India 2025 was Varun Beverages’ first exhibition, where it showcased its packaging division. “This was our first attempt at showcasing our packaging capabilities. This is a stepping stone and a learning curve for us,” Ekambaram added.
The show helped reposition the company in the minds of industry visitors, many of whom knew Varun Beverages exclusively as a beverage bottler. Based on this year’s learnings, the company aims to expand its presentation footprint at future editions and project itself as a packaging supplier in both the domestic market and for exports.
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Naresh Khanna – 10 February 2025
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