SoliQ Air, a specialist high performance flower packaging product has established its global roots into the Kenya Flower sector in just a little under two years. Today, unlike at the time of introduction when Silpack’s Director Parit Shah, had a challenging time convincing flower farms to try the SoliQ Air cartons, they are marketing themselves, thanks to their delivery of savings.

Mr. Shah says investment in the SoliQ Air cartons, whose core values are quality, innovation, savings and consistency is paying dividends for the sector.

This, he notes, is attested by its ever increasing orders as well as growing client base.“When we introduced this product I had a challenge marketing it. The concept would be dismissed as creative marketing. This perception has fundamentally changed. More and more farms are making enquiries and subsequently place orders with us,” points out Mr. Shah.

Silpack Industries Limited today supplies the high quality cartons to 15 of the top flower farms in the country. An impressive growth in a marketplace spoilt for choice of carton suppliers. The key to the rapid success is underpinned by the commitment Silpack has given to the core values of the.

The Director believes for the most part, the growth in the client base has resulted from the end customers of the flower farms’, especially in Russia, Far East and Europe being particular that they wanted their flowers packaged in SoliQ Air branded cartons.

Mr. Shah notes that in the flower business where the end-buyer is keen on getting flowers efficiently and without waste, SoliQ Air cartons are being preferred in like for like comparisons. The key lies in the high performance fibre that goes into the paper, making them stronger and more durable when compared to their peers.

“Globally, SoliQ has been synonymous with reducing wastage, which has always been the underlying factor. It is a brand that has come of age after primarily starting in the fresh produce industry. SoliQ Air, created for the flowers going to auction, where it impressively delivered on its core values, is now increasingly being used by players in direct sales,” Mr. Shah observes.

But perhaps the biggest benefit that clients have realised from using the SoliQ Air boxes is savings in terms of money. According to Mr. Shah, exporters have confirmed a saving in freight costs. Additionally, he says that feedback also indicated that their clients have noted significant reductions in wastage claims.

Strategic partnerships
Over the years the Silpack has cultivated partnerships with organisations which are foremost authorities in the field of cold chain. Globally one key partnership is with Paccess Packaging, a US-based subsidiary of Billerud Korsnas, providing global brand owners with world-class knowledge and experience within packaging design, development, and sourcing. The results of these partnerships have allowed growers and to reduce supply chain waste and time-to-market costs.

Moving forward, Silpack intends to make SoliQ Air boxes even better by focusing on innovative ways of dealing with other challenges of ethylene and moisture control in the cold chain. In this, they are working with a number of growers to ensure the final product will be delivering on the core values of quality, innovation, savings and consistency. Mr. Shah also says that a new box design, that he terms as revolutionary, is also in the pipeline.

“Flower and fresh produce packaging has changed more in the last two years than it did in the prior fifteen years. Silpack is currently investing in innovation to ensure that we do not have to wait another fifteen years to introduce further savings and benefits for our growers to make them more competitive in the global marketplace. We eagerly wait to introduce at least three new products in the near future!” Parit says with a smile.

After the success in the flower industry, Silpack is eager to replicate the same in other horticultural subsectors.

“We are confident that the vegetable and fruit exporters will benefit from the same winning qualities from SoliQ boxes,” Mr. Shah points out.