Institute of Packaging Machinery Manufacturers of India organised a panel discussion at ITC Hotel, Coimbatore on April 30, 2022 with a topic on "How the Packaging in Food & Dairying would be in the Next 10 Years". Mr. C.P. Charles, Chairman, IDA (South Zone) participated in the Panel discussion and expressed his views on the perspective of packaging in dairy industry. While expressing his view, he said that the dairy industry is one of the sectors which was not affected badly during the pandemic. The per capita consumption of liquid milk is gradually increasing every year based on the available data. Hence, the need for improved, innovative and environment friendly packaging materials is needed to meet the changing preference of the consumers. Though, flexible polyethylene is the cheapest solution for milk packaging as compared to PET bottles, its impact on environment should not be ignored. Hence, adequate research and development in the packaging material sector needs to be undertaken by the stake holders considering the intrinsic factors like retaining the nutrient content of the dairy products and extrinsic factors like air content, etc. Further, eco-friendly packaging and convenience product .formats are the need of the hour in developing and improvising the packaging materials and the manufacturers of machinery and appliances need to invest in these areas to support the food industry. Traditional glass bottles for marketing milk would be an ideal packaging material but, for its fragility. The packaging industry should rise up to the occasion to meet the changing needs of the food manufacturers by utilising the recyclable pulp fibres, mono materials and biodegradable milk bottles.
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