Monthly Archives: August 2015
Uflex felicitates 130 budding footballers chosen from over 4,000 children across Delhi
Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director of Uflex, India’s largest flexible packaging company, felicitated 130 budding footballers spotted and chosen from over 4,000 children across Delhi.
The spotting and selection of these chosen children was done at SSFL Grassroots camps that were organized by STAIRS with support from Uflex. The objective of the camps was to -
a) Engage as many children as possible with football to build a football culture at the grassroots,
b) Select a few promising players and provide them with professional training, and
c) Give them an opportunity to showcase their talent at SSFL, the first step towards professional football.
The selected players will form eight teams of STAIRS that include two girls teams in age groups under-14 and under-17 and four boys teams – two each for the same age groups.
The felicitation ceremony took place at Uflex factory in Noida, where children spentquality time with Mr Ashok Chaturvediand updated him about the fun and the learning experiences they had at the SSFL Grassroots camps.
Speaking on the occasion, Ashok Chaturvedisaid, “I am pleased to see such a large number of children taking up sports at the grassroots. I was especially amazed to see the confidence of the girls’ teams, I am sure it has been built while practicing football. It feels really great to see how our efforts to build sporting culture at the grassroots, in association with Team STAIRS, are really making a difference. The idea is to positively channelize the tremendous energy and potential that these children have and sports is the best way to do that. I am extremely happy that we are supporting such a noble cause.”
Mr Siddhartha Upadhyay, Founder and Secretary General, STAIRS, said, “I thank Mr Ashok Chaturvedi and Team Uflex for felicitating the young talent that we have carefully nurtured over the years. With Uflex deciding to support SSFL for five years, I am sure we will be able to achieve our goal of fulfilling every child’s right to play.”
The STAIRS School Football League (SSFL) will be officially launched on 26 August 2015 at Thyagraj Sports Complex, New Delhi. The idea of the event is to boost the footballing culture among young children. The event is solely meant for the children under 14 years and under 17 years of age and follows the exact FIFA World Cup format. It will begin with league matches at over 10 different venues across four zones in Delhi while the semi-final and final games will be played at the central venue. All the school teams intending to participate also have to go through the qualifier rounds.
The league has become one of the most significant ‘talent spotting’ platforms for clubs and bodies seeking to acquire talent at an early age. While many officials and individuals from professional bodies keep their eyes on the budding players during the matches, selectors from international foreign clubs watch ‘live streaming’ of important matches and even call for recorded videos to see performance of promising players.
In the first edition of SSFL last year, over 500 schools had applied and only 128 of them could qualify to participate in the league and the number is expected to double in this edition.
STAIRS also fields four teams (two each in under-14 and under-17) that get a wild card entry to the event as they are selected through spotting camps across Delhi and then trained by professionals.
This year’s STAIRS team comprises of boys chosen out of over 6,000 players from across Delhi. Last year, the STAIRS team had ranked fourth in the tournament.
Uflex extends support to SSFL for the next five years
With an aim to strengthen the sports ecosystem and build football culture at the grassroots, Uflex Ltd, as a part of its corporate social responsibility, has committed itself to support Stairs School Football League (SSFL). Uflex had associated with the league in 2014 and with this year’s support it has extended its commitment for the next five years.
“We believe that without sports, the personality development of a child would be incomplete. Our association with SSFL will help in providing a complete ‘personality package’ to the children. While we are into the business of flexible packaging, socially our focus is to provide holistic personality package to the torchbearers of tomorrow through sports. We are committed to develop sports at the grassroots. We strongly believe that sports can tremendously contribute to the overall development of not just the children but the entire community for that matter. Being free to play is the universal right of every child. Our support to SSFL is a step towards ensuring that children in Delhi get free access to play football at some of the best sporting facilities across the state. . We believe that this initiative will give a tremendous boost to the sport by identifying, supporting and nurturing talent right from early adolescence.
I was amazed to learn that 288 schools are participating in one league, making it the biggest school-level league in India. Moreover, with participation of 32 girls’ teams, it becomes one-of-its-kind football tournament that also propagates ‘gender parity’, which is a must for the growth of our country. I congratulate Team STAIRS in achieving this scale and wish them good luck in this timely and meaningful initiative,” said Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director, Uflex Group.
Uflex Group also supports some of the other grassroots sports focused initiatives in several other states across the country.
“I am thankful to Uflex Group for encouraging our efforts and standing by the initiative. The support will help us making an impact that the country desires to see. One of the fundamental reasons for Indian football not being able to make a mark in the international circuit is that the country is not being able to produce skilled footballers from the grassroots. We have plenty of talented children in Delhi schools alone, but they hardly get a platform to showcase their talent and stay motivated to pursue their career in
the game. SSFL not only provides a platform to these children to present and hone their skills, but also acts as a first step towards professional football. We ensure that a promising player spotted here is nurtured, trained, motivated and gets enough support to be able to make a mark. The fundamental objective of every step we take at STAIRS is to create a holistic sporting environment for children,” said Siddhartha Upadhyay, Founder and Secretary General, STAIRS.
“We are hoping to see more corporate groups coming forward to support us in taking SSFL across the length and breadth of India. The support we seek is not just in terms of financial contribution for programmes, but also through partnerships wherein each partner adds some value to the initiative or takes care of one aspect of the programme, be it logistics, communication, outreach or healthcare”, added Upadhyay.
The STAIRS School Football League (SSFL) will be officially launched on 26 August 2015 at Thyagraj Sports Complex, New Delhi. The idea of the event is to boost the football culture among young children. The event is solely meant for the children under 14 years and under 17 years of age and follows the t FIFA World Cup format. It will begin with league matches at over 10 different venues across four zones in Delhi while the semi-final and final games will be played at the central venue. All the school teams intending to participate also have to go through the qualifier rounds.
The league has become one of the most significant ‘talent spotting’ platforms for clubs and bodies seeking to acquire talent at an early age. While many officials and individuals from professional bodies keep their eyes on the budding players during the matches, selectors from international foreign clubs watch ‘live streaming’ of important matches and even call for recorded videos to assess the performance of promising players.
In the first edition of SSFL last year, over 500 schools had applied out of which only 128 could qualify to participate in the league. The number is expected to double this time around. STAIRS also fields six teams (under-14 and under-17) that get a wild card entry to the event as they are selected through spotting camps across Delhi and then trained by professionals. This year’s STAIRS team comprises players chosen out of a wide array of over 4,000 sportspersons from across Delhi. Last year, the STAIRS team had ranked fourth in the tournament.
Plastic perfect: Why flexible packaging is important for today’s customers?
The 21st century is a time of fast paced lifestyle where everybody seems to be in a hurry. With changing times, the taste and the needs of our consumers have also undergone a sea change. Today’s consumer is not only demanding, but also aware. The products that don’t cater to their taste or cause will defiantly be off the shelves sooner than later. Besides, all consumers are constantly looking for value for money.
To meet the requirements of the new age consumer, several manufacturers have turned to flexible packaging. It happens to be the only source that has a high standard of functionality and sustainability making it perfect for on-the-go consumers.
There are many aspects of flexible packaging that have given a fillip to its demand in the market. Convenience, durability, cost effectiveness; designabilitiy, eco-friendliness etc are some aspects that have made plastics a darling for the manufacturers.Within plastics, flexible packaging is the segment that has actually caught the attention of the end users.
For consumers, flexible packaging has the following advantages to offer:
- It is lightweight and convenient, hence carrying it around is of no hassle at all;
- It is cost effective;
- Materials used allow packing products of any shape, design & colour scheme, size and volume. With the advent of flexible packaging gone are the days of ‘One Size Fits All’;
- Slider & Zipper pouches allow reclosing of the product without compromising on the product quality thus adding to the functional advantage.
- Intelligent and smart packaging is further ensuring protection from contamination and spoilage;
- Flexible packaging is sustainable and can be recycled relatively easily.
Temperature variations in packed food can result in compromising its safety and quality. Driven by rapid advancements in time-temperature indicators (TTI), intelligent packaging is anticipated to witness a strong growth in the coming times. This system could be able to detect food contamination and change of color in case the food is not fit for consumption by the consumer.
In India, like in the rest of the world, a majority of FMCG and household products come wrapped and packed in plastics. The packaging presentation of consumer goods has been growing at a very fast rate.
An efficient flexible package exhibits the following:
• Increased barrier protection
• Detection of spoilage
• Protect the food from mechanical damage during handling and deterioration by the climate.
• Recyclable
• Cost effective
• Suitable for contact with food
• Conforms to high standards of health, safety and sustainability
• Can be customized into practically any shape, size, or design and colour scheme;
Recently a market research company ‘Canadean’ has stated in its latest report that an estimated 786,095 million units of flexible packaging will be consumed within global retail food markets in 2018.This in turn means that the share of flexible packaging will keep increasing in the food packaging market, while glass, metal and paper packaging will wear out eventually.
The same report also quotes that the global demand for pouches in the food market will grow by 2,489 million pack units between 2014 and 2017 – a 14.9% increase in the total food pouches market size[1].
Another estimate by Technavio forecasts the flexible packaging market in India growing at a CAGR of 24.21% over the period 2014-2019[2].
These researches coupled with the growing demand for plastic packaging ascertains that the industry is determinedly on the upward trajectory and the modern consumer is totally hooked on to it.
India’s largest flexible packaging company, Uflex Ltd. strongly believes that the greatest innovation in the field of packaging has been flexible packaging. Uflex has always been working towards creating sustainable options of flexible packaging that bring immense value to the customers. Being on the edge of innovation the company provides packaging solutions to top notch brands of the world that keep the products safe and fresh.. With continuing R&D for yet safer, environment friendly and innovative packaging, Uflex has defined the contours of the packaging industry and remains committed to bringing intelligent and sustainable packaging solutions at the most competitive price coordinates.
Uflex Limited’s consolidated Net Revenue for Q1 FY2015-16 stands at Rs. 1605 crore; Net Profit is Rs. 76 crore
Uflex Ltd, the Bombay Stock Exchange (UFLEX: 500148) and NSE listed, India’s largest flexible packaging company has registered consolidated net revenue of 1605 crore for the quarter ended 30th June 2015 as against Rs. 1536 crore for the same period last year. The consolidated net profit for the quarter ended 30th June 2015 has been higher at Rs. 76 crore as against Rs. 64 crore for the same period last year, thus clocking a growth of 19%.
As reported earlier, for the full financial year ended March 31, 2015, Uflex recorded a growth of 5% in consolidated net revenues at Rs. 6201 crore as against Rs.5892 crore for the last year. The net profit for the full financial year (FY 2014-15) stood higher at Rs. 255 crore against Rs. 202 crore in the last year, an increase of 26%. The company has paid Dividend of Rs. 2.70 per share to the members for the FY 2015 as against Rs. 2.50 per share in the previous year i.e. FY 2014.
The company has been reporting consistent growth amidst increasing demand for innovative flexible packaging solutions fuelled by expanding retail industry particularly in the food segment.
Upon the declaration of results, Mr. Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman and Managing Director of Uflex Group said, “Uflex continues to strive to become one of the largest flexible packaging companies and preferred supplier in the world, delivering best in class products and services. You will be glad to learn that we have been conferred with Global Dupont Packaging Innovation Silver Award 2015 for the ‘Safe Pack Bag’ for packaging building materials. This award is a result of our keen eye for detail and unrelenting quest to enhance value for our customers through innovating technologically superior products. I look forward towards eventful quarters ahead.”
Expansion Plans
Uflex’s agenda of consistent global expansion and consolidation of its position as a truly Indian MNC (Multinational Corporation) is reinforced by its strategy of capacity expansion and adding manufacturing lines for various product categories across existing and newer locations. By doing this Uflex increases proximity to the markets and brings broad portfolio of value added products for its clients at the most competitive price points. The Company has been on a drive to set-up new plants for developing and manufacturing many new and innovative packaging products. Conforming to Government of India’s mission of “Make in India”, Uflex Limited is in the process of setting up a first of its kind Aseptic Packaging Plant for liquid packaging in Sanand, Gujarat with a Capex of INR 550 crores in the first phase. This project is proposed to be commissioned and operational by April 2017 and employ around 250 people in the first phase and on completion of all the phases it will provide employment to approximately 3000 people. This factory will produce approximately seven billion packs per year for liquid products such as energy drinks, milk and juices. About 90 percent of the output from this factory will cater to the domestic market.