A tissue market growing very quickly, 13.3% at present, with 18 to 20% expected in the coming years. Previously, tissue was seen as a luxury. Now, in different places across the country, you can see that changing dramatically. Society is changing, lifestyle changes are happening.
The pandemic sparked heightened concern over hygiene. The younger generation is demanding product quality and greater choice linked to wider sustainable manufacturing, and easier retail access.
Ashwin J Laddha, Managing Director and Chief Executive of the pioneering Orient Paper Industries, makes all these points and more online from his factory in Kolkata. TWM last visited the factory in 2016, and he stresses fundamental market changes since then – not least the company itself going through a root and branch reassessment of its business model, with much more emphasis placed on value products and closed loop production.
Laddha also outlines agroforestry projects in rural villages, a key area of potential growth as 64% of India’s population of 1,450,935,791 people (1.45 billion for ease of reading) live in rural areas … almost 930m people.
The company’s advancing eucalyptus plantations are coupled with working across 1,089 villages, home to 450,000 individuals, empowering 90,000 smallholders to improve farming practices. “This isn’t just about ESG; it’s about building vibrant, self-sustaining communities.”
In the west in Sarigam, north of Mumbai, the local Indian market looks “very promising”, with a consistent growth trajectory for Jani Sales Director Abiali Jani. The main source is AfH, the growing demand from institutional consumers through HORECA … but with an extra category in hospitals.
Nationally, tissue CAGR exceeding 12% is projected in the decade ahead. The general economy is the fastest growing globally in 2024, the seventh largest, and with a GDP of 7.6%.
In urban India, home to roughly 523m people living in variously more developed economic circumstances, tissue usage growth is already well underway. The contrast with the rural hinterland is extreme.
Ten years ago Narendra Modi, the newly elected Prime Minister, famously stated: “Building toilets is a priority over temples.” Since then, more than 110 million toilets have been built through the Swachh Bharat (Clean India) campaign. An impressive number, but poverty levels, nationwide infrastructure issues and deep-rooted cultural traditions remain.
Society is changing dramatically: the companies are fit and ready for the newly emerging era, investing heavily in green energy, leveraging digitalisation, implementing quality control systems for raw material and drying energy savings, reducing plastic use, implementing recycling programmes, optimising supply logistics, improving inventory, and prioritising personalisation of products to enhance value.
It is not yet a Chinese scale surge, but it is moving.
