Specialise or struggle, warns Pulkit Chhaparia

At Print & Beyond 2026, Pulkit Chhaparia, managing director of Cambay Foodservices Packaging, recounted how the company transformed from an industrial packaging firm that served domestic clients into a 100% export-oriented business supplying the US, UK and EU. “We are India’s largest exporter of food service packaging,” he told attendees, noting that Cambay ships “about 150 containers a month.”

The company began in 2013 as a general industrial packager and pivoted after 2018, when export obligations and market study convinced Chhaparia that food service packaging could be scaled. “From 2018, we started transforming the company into 100% export-oriented business, focusing only on food service packaging,” he said.

Chhaparia framed his talk around the challenges of a deglobalised world and the strategic value of specialisation. He warned that rising tariffs and non‑tariff barriers, excess Chinese capacity and consolidation among large global buyers are squeezing smaller, unfocused suppliers. “There is immense pressure from Chinese exports… and business is shifting to large-scale corporations,” he said, arguing that only focused exporters with repeatable operations can compete.

Specialisation, Chhaparia said, unlocks practical advantages: tighter inventory control, purchasing scale, tailored automation, viable backward integration and consistent quality. “Without specialisation or finding a niche as a packaging producer, it is really difficult to optimise operations,” he said. He added that machine investments often fail to deliver when used across disparate product lines: “Invest in people, systems and in terms of processes, rather than just being obsessed over which machines you have.”

Chhaparia also shared hard lessons from Cambay’s early years, including the cost of saying yes to too many opportunities and overemphasising top‑line growth at the expense of cash flow. “One of my biggest mistakes was to say yes to every opportunity that came across and that really had a lot of detrimental effect on the business,” he said, recalling cash flow strains that forced emergency loans in 2015 and 2016.

On customer proximity and resilience, Chhaparia described operational changes that reduce friction for overseas buyers. Cambay integrates its systems with clients’ platforms so buyers can see shipment and order data in real time. “For basic things like, when is the shipment going to be dispatched… they need not send us an email, and we need not respond,” he said, adding that transparency “gives that kind of confidence” needed in long-distance supply chains.

Quality and consistency in food contact packaging were recurring themes. “More than quality, it is very important to produce goods consistently with the same quality,” Chhaparia said, stressing the need for tight communication between sales and quality control so factory teams understand which parameters are non‑negotiable for each customer.

He also urged Indian packaging firms to capitalise on domestic raw material strengths. “India is extremely good at recycled board,” he said, and recommended focusing on global products and markets that value that substrate. Chhaparia called for stronger domestic certification for food-contact packaging, comparable to European standards, arguing that current Indian regulations fall short. “In Europe we have… a certificate which is the European regulation for safer food contact,” he said, noting that apart from FSSAI, India lacks an equivalent food‑contact certification framework.

Looking ahead, Chhaparia believes India’s food service packaging market will become highly attractive once distribution channels mature. “The Indian market is growing very well in food service as well, and in five to six years, it is going to be a very mature market,” he said, adding that Cambay plans to enter the domestic market as it consolidates.

Chhaparia closed with advice for new entrepreneurs: find a mentor early, invest in people and systems, and choose your race rather than copying industry leaders. “You can always create your own race. You can always run your own race and be the master of it,” he said.