Asian Opportunity

Zip-Pak first started in the US and now has an international presence that spreads all the way down under to Australia and New Zealand where it has sales offices. It also has manufacturing facilities in European countries such as the Netherlands, which supplies to Australasia, and Japan. Its latest addition was a sales office in Shanghai, China (see PackWebasia.com’s report here), headed by Tracy Wang, Market Development Manager, China.

“We have just started doing business in China, where the market is really waiting for something new,” said Wang, who also added that while the Shanghai office is currently focused on the Mainland, it might support other Asian countries in the future.

Although Zip-Pak has not conducted any market research specific to China yet, Sheaffer believes that the Chinese market holds a lot of potential. “AC Nielsen recently announced that they intent to do the same type and amount of research in China as they do in the States. If such a global market research firm is moving into that market, then to me, that indicates that there is a lot of good market potential there,” she said.

Tracy Wang, Market Development Manager, China, Zip-Pak

“With China,” Wang said, “our marketing and expansion strategies are slightly different from other markets,with even greater focus on the Chinese converters. Unlike in western countries where brand designers usually dictate the packages’ production process, in China, the converter generally still dictates package design. Most brand owners are given a selection of designs to choose from the converter’s catalogue.

“In China, we talk not only to brand owners, but have to spend extra time with OEMs and converters so we don’t lose anyone in the supply chain. We share technical knowledge with converters and try to convince them that we can share mutually beneficial business relationships by helping each other.

“It’s really all about building relationships in China,” Wang concluded.

She also observed differences between the MNCs and local Chinese companies. Without naming specific companies, Wang said, “Different companies will have their own idea of what will work for their products. Some are concerned with getting low prices, while others focus more on building their brands. Generally though, Chinese companies in the various sectors are now learning and evolving.”

For Zip-Pak, the future in China is going to be very interesting and the company is excited about being in that market and part of its growth.

“Right now, China is at the stage where the consumers’ demand for convenience packaging is in return pushing the demand for resealable closures – just the way it started in the West,” said Sheaffer.

“Sustainability is still quite a new topic for China, but I think it will be different in the near future. Just look at Europe just a few years ago and today. Sustainability only became an issue recently and now it is really riding on the ‘green wave’ and getting very involved in areas like waste management and so on.”

In 2007, Zip-Pak conducted a year long on-going consumer survey in Europe and included the subject of sustainability in the questionaire. According to Sheaffer, “The difference in the level of consumer knowledge about sustainability in packaging at the beginning of 2007 and the end of the year was huge. This told us that we now have a more educated consumer market.

“People were talking about how their children were learning about sustainability in school, coming home and telling their parents not to buy certain products because the packaging was not sustainable,” Sheaffer recounted.

“So in just a year, we’ve had an enormous shift in the European market. China might just follow suit.’

Zip-Pak is a global supplier of convenient, brand-enhancing resealable packaging solutions with production facilities in Japan, Brazil, the Netherlands, US and UK. Headquartered in Illinois, US, the company’s international network of sales offices support global clients in more than 52 countries. With more than 50 years’ experience, Zip-Pak aims to make the transition to resealable closures for its clients as easy as possible by retrofitting existing equipment to easily accommodate resealable packaging.

Zip-Pak is a division of Illinois Tool Works (ITW), a diversified manufacturer of engineered components and industrial systems.