Archroma inaugurated its state-of-the-art COI in Mumbai in September 2025. The facility is equipped with world-class technologies, enabling customers to conduct real-time trials and validate performance before commercial adoption. A key highlight is the RK Coater, equipped with multiple coating heads, which allows trials on a variety of substrates, including paper, film, laminates, and more.
Rituparna Chakraborty, vice-president, packaging technologies, South Asia, said the event marks a significant moment for the company as it strengthens its support for India’s fast-growing paper and packaging sectors.
“Our customers can now see exactly how a formulation behaves on their intended substrates before implementing it on their machines. This has built huge confidence and accelerated customer decision-making,” Chakraborty said.
The same equipment setup is mirrored in Archroma’s COIs in Barcelona and Charlotte, ensuring seamless knowledge-sharing and rapid problem-solving across global teams.
Archroma’s barrier innovations drew significant attention at the show, particularly solutions aimed at replacing polyethylene (PE)-based coatings in paper cups and food packaging. The company showcased PE-free paper cups produced in Brazil using Archroma’s coating, which runs at 310 cups per minute, significantly faster than typical Indian machines (usually under 200 cups per minute).
Chakraborty said the company’s universal coating is suitable for hot beverages (coffee/tea); ideal for cold aerated drinks with ice and compatible with ice cream cups.
“To our knowledge, no other single coating supports all three applications. Most mills today need three different coatings. Our technology allows one master roll to serve multiple segments,” she said.
The coatings are FDA, EU, and BfR approved, meeting stringent food safety requirements. Also, the coatings are recyclable, repulpable, and compostable, unlike PE cups, which require aggressive agitation to separate plastic from fibre.
Given India’s consumption, an estimated 1 billion paper cups every 1–2 days, the potential for sustainable alternatives is massive.
With QSR and ready-to-eat trends rising sharply, Archroma’s oil and grease-resistant (OGR) solutions also gained traction.
The star performer is OGBS 20, tested and proven in multiple leading Indian paper mills. Its applications include burger wrappers; clamshells; snack boxes and fast-food liners.
Chakraborty noted that mills and converters increasingly seek forward integration, entering coating and cup-making businesses. Archroma is supporting this transition through extensive trials, fast formulation tweaks, and end-to-end technical support.
Archroma continues to advance bio-based, compostable, and recyclable chemistries.
The company is developing next-generation solutions across wet strength resins, dry strength resins; biomaterial-based barrier coatings, and functional packaging additives.
“In flexible packaging, India is now our global centre of innovation, led from our Mumbai COI. We are working closely with global QSR brands and converters to bring sustainable packaging to market,” Chakraborty added.
One of the key themes at Paperex was the industry’s shift from graphic papers to packaging, display papers, and ready-to-eat segments.
“We are probably the only company offering chemistries that cover the entire lifecycle, from pulp to paper to board to box,” Chakraborty emphasised. “This enables us to partner deeply with mills and converters and help accelerate their transition toward sustainable, value-added packaging.”