A plate from a leaf
The first product was a plate pressed from an areca sheath that would otherwise have been burned. The first workforce included people many employers would not hire. Both choices still shape the company.
Controlling the inputs
Bought-in adhesives and inks caused most of the early quality problems, so printing and adhesives units were set up in 2013–14. Since then, Bollant has made its own process inputs.
Integration, step by step
- 2012 · A disposable paper-plate punching unit.
- 2013 · Distribution units, to sell direct to customers.
- 2015 · Laminated paper sheets made in-house, with Bollant ink, glue and film.
- 2017 · Paper production: brown kraft paper made entirely from waste paper, then deluxe and news-print grades.
Each step moved one more input under Bollant’s control, backward towards raw material and forward towards the customer.
Units in two states
Units opened in Nizamabad and Hubli, then Bengaluru, adding converting and areca capacity close to raw material and to buyers.
Reviving paper mills
Instead of building new capacity, Bollant took on struggling mills: Pochampally in 2017, from 25 to 60 tonnes a day, and Jeedimetla in 2018, from 30 to 100 tonnes a day (company-stated). Read the case studies.
Today
Eight units in Telangana and Karnataka. The mills supply recycled grades to converters and to Bollant’s own lines, which turn paper into cores, boxes and tableware.