Elopak is opening a major new factory in Saint Petersburg, Russia for carton packaging customers in juice and dairy. The 10,000 square metre plant is due to open this summer. By 2012 it is expected to be producing one billion cartons for the dairy and juice markets in Russia and the CIS countries.
Elopak is targeting these markets at a time of uncertainty as the threat of inflation looms over the Russian economy. That being said, Elopak says the recession had little impact on milk sales, which grew 21% by volume in 2010, according to AC Nielsen research.
However, the packaging company has warned against complacency. “The future situation will depend a lot on inflation for food and other raw materials. If inflation stays high it will hamper growth of food markets in general,” Victoria Ovchinnikova, Elopak’s marketing specialist in Russia says.