It would seem that a recession is sometimes a good time to take advantage of opportunities, and to turn them to your advantage. Heinken SA is establishing its first brewery in SA - estimated to be a total investment of about R4 billion, while CCL Industries has just acquired Ferroprint Stellenbosch (see page 6). Ferrero is expanding its global confectionery business in SA (page 28), Printacom is launching a new printing division (page 36), and Polyoak Packaging has acquired Huhtamaki's South African rigid plastics division (page 39).rnHowever, the majority of players in the packaging industry are likely to focus on the key challenge of commercial survival in 2009. The 1st IPSA Annual National IPSA Packaging Congress, which took place last month, was held at the right time. Industry is beginning to realise that the economic downturn is here to stay for a while, and is looking for ways in which to promote the value of packaging in the current environment. Read the comprehensive report of the Congress on pages 11-15 which delivers the views and opinions of leading industry figures on how packaging companies can prepare themselves to be fit for the future.
展开▼
