15-18 June 2027
Crocus Expo, Moscow
Procurement teams at Russian converters are no longer treating Indian film suppliers as a fallback option.
Over the past three years, Indian flexible packaging exporters' relationships with Russia have moved from opportunistic sourcing to formal, long-term supply agreements covering BOPP, BOPET, and multilayer laminate volumes.
For packaging buyers, plant managers, and supply chain leaders across food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and consumer goods, researching this shift at the International Packaging Expo, the trend is already changing how sourcing decisions get made in 2026.
India's flexible packaging sector has scaled into one of the largest in the world. Industry estimates put the domestic flexible packaging market at roughly USD 20 billion in 2025, with growth driven by film manufacturers investing heavily in new capacity rather than relying on legacy plants.
UFlex, one of the sector's largest producers, recently added 54,000 metric tonnes of annual film capacity through an expansion in Karnataka, taking its global production base past 690,000 MTPA.
Cosmo Films, another major BOPP producer, and members of the Indian Flexible Packaging & Folding Carton Manufacturers Association (IFCA) add further depth to the country's export base.
That combination gives Russian buyers something a single-plant regional supplier cannot: more than one large-scale, qualified producer to work with, and the manufacturing depth to support multi-year supply volumes without production gaps.
Russia's packaging supply chain faced a genuine disruption after 2022, as several major Western packaging manufacturers wound down or sold their local operations.
Amcor sold its three Russian factories to a local investor group, Ball Corporation sold its Russian beverage packaging business to Arnest Group, and Mondi divested a number of its Russian converting plants to Gotek Group.
Tetra Pak's reduced presence created a well-documented supply risk for dairy and liquid food packaging, prompting Russian producers to quickly secure alternative film and laminate volumes.
Indian film manufacturers stepped into that gap by combining manufacturing scale with pricing that held up better than freight-disrupted alternatives from other regions.
As Russian brands across food, pharmaceuticals, and FMCG categories continue to move away from rigid containers, the commercial case for a reliable flexible film supply has only strengthened.
Indian suppliers now cover most of the film categories a Russian converter needs: BOPP for dry snack and grocery pouches, BOPET for lamination and metallising, CPP for heat-sealable structures, and multilayer laminates combining barrier and print layers for dairy, coffee, and pharmaceutical blister lidding.
Several producers also supply high-barrier films built for extended shelf life in chilled and frozen categories.
Certification and traceability now shape purchasing decisions as much as price. Indian manufacturers exporting to Russia typically hold ISO quality certifications and food-contact compliance documentation, and a growing number are developing mono-material structures to improve recyclability without sacrificing barrier performance.
That aligns with a broader shift already underway across the industry, detailed further in Rise of Flexible Packaging, where brand owners are moving away from rigid formats toward flexible film for cost and sustainability reasons alike.
For Russian converters, that combination of certification, film range, and sustained production capacity is what turns a supplier into a long-term specification rather than a one-off shipment.
It also means Indian exporters are less exposed to the trial-and-error risk that comes with switching film sources mid-contract, since the same producer can typically supply the full range a converting line requires.
Sourcing decisions of this size rarely happen through cold outreach.
Russian converters, brand procurement teams, and CIS distributors validate new film suppliers in person, checking sample performance, discussing volume terms, and meeting technical teams face to face before committing to a multi-year contract.
That is the gap RosUpack fills for both sides of the trade.
RosUpack is Russia and the CIS region's largest packaging and labelling exhibition, bringing together more than 1,100 exhibitors and 30,000 packaging professionals across four days, including buyers actively sourcing film, laminates, and barrier materials.
For Indian exporters assessing the market, Flexible Packaging Manufacturers in Russia outlines the scale of demand and the buyer profile attending, from procurement directors to packaging engineers evaluating new suppliers for 2026 production runs.
Indian film and laminate manufacturers already supply the Russian market, and those evaluating entry gain more from a single week on the show floor than months of remote prospecting.
Russian and CIS buyers researching new suppliers can meet Indian exporters directly, compare film specifications side by side, and start supplier qualification without waiting for a sample shipment to clear customs.
Companies producing BOPP, BOPET, CPP, or speciality barrier film for the Russian and CIS markets can submit an Exhibit Enquiry to secure a position at the next edition and showcase their production capabilities to buyers, setting sourcing plans for 2026 and 2027.
