In India, Ball Corporation has been operating since 2006 and supplies all the key brands in the country’s beverage market in various categories such as beer, wine, flavored spirits and hard liquor. Bengaluru-based Ball Beverage Packaging India also exports to South Asia, ASEAN, Africa and U.S. markets. In an interview Manish Joshi, Sales and Marketing Director of Ball Beverage Packaging India, analyzes the Indian market and discusses the importance of aluminum cans as a sustainable and environmentally friendly beverage packaging alternative.

Could you tell us about the manufacturing plants that the multinational Ball has in India as well as the investments?

Manish Joshi. Ball Beverage Packaging has made a major investment in India. It currently has two state-of-the-art beverage container manufacturing plants: the first plant, Taloja, is located on the outskirts of Mumbai, and was established in 2006. The second beverage can manufacturing plant is in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, and started operations in 2016. In addition, Ball also has an aerosol can plant in Sanand, Gujarat.

The demand for aluminum cans in packaging is increasing in the country, what are the reasons?

Manish Joshi. One of the main reasons is the growth of the middle-income population, changes in lifestyle, improved transportation and evolving consumer preferences. Currently, the penetration of aluminum cans is only one beverage can per head per year, compared to 70 cans in Vietnam, 40 in China or 140 in Brazil.

However, we are working to increase this awareness, the preference for cans is growing faster than any other packaging format and we expect this trend to continue to increase over the next two years.

Apart from non-alcoholic beverages, what other types are in demand and why?

Manish Joshi. The metal container is very popular for beer and energy drinks. This is due to its premium look, convenience and easy storage. We are also seeing that spring water, wine and hard seltzers are adopting aluminum cans as their preferred packaging.

Cost is an important factor for any business, how do you rate the affordability of these metal containers compared to others?

Manish Joshi- Value should be relevant, keeping in mind that packaging is the first point of interaction with the consumer for any brand. The cost of metal packaging is higher than other packaging materials, but once the benefits in the value chain are calculated they are more balanced.