Rising from the ashes, Ctg packaging co now leading exporter

Infographic: TBS

During an evening stroll in Enayet Bazar in 1998, Osman Gani found that all 12 workers of their packaging factory were playing Ludo as they had nothing to do.

The recent postgraduate in economics, who secured eighth position in combined results at the National University, was astounded to see the state of his father's debt-ridden factory, which started operations in 1968. 

Osman decided to resuscitate the factory instead of taking a job elsewhere. 

The most daunting challenge for Osman was an overdue bank loan of Tk700,000 that would have to be repaid. 

With an idea of what he intended to do, Osman started visiting different companies to sell his products and got substantial orders. 

His first role became that of a salesman. 

Osman, along with his three brothers, started taking the company to new heights.  

They founded two companies - Hossain Packaging Limited and Hossain Box Industries.  Now over 300 people are employed at their two factories.

The company produces packing products for many local prominent companies including Isphani, Starship, Abul Khair, Syngenta Bangladesh, Coats Bangladesh, MJL Bangladesh Limited, Well Food and Kiswan.  

They reached a new milestone in 2021 when they began exporting packaging to Tommy Bahama Group Inc., a well-known American producer of casual men's and women's apparel.  

Packaging items manufactured in Chattogram are also exported to the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, and Cambodia. 

His manufactured packets also go abroad with many Bangladeshi goods such as vegetables and foods. 

Some companies at the Chattogram Export Processing which used to import high quality packaging from abroad are now replacing it with Osman's products.

The company which neared demise in 1998, now pays over Tk20 lakh to the government every month as Value Added Taxes. 

In 2020, they installed a fully automatic high speed lock bottom folder gluer, laser die & auto bending machine. 

It now aims to become a global hub for industrial accessories. 

As it is a booming market, Europe's largest packaging enterprise, ALPLA, expressed interest to establish a packaging industry in Bangladesh. 

Illustration: TBS

Lion Osman Gani, CEO of the Hossain Packaging Limited and Hossain Box Industries, in conversation with The Business Standard, touched upon the journey so far, explaining the transformation and the road ahead.

 The revival

"My father used to work in a packaging factory. Leaving the job, my father started retail packaging box manufacturing in Chattogram in 1968 and the company name was AM Packages," Osman recalled.

 Osman would go to the factory with his father from an early age. He also worked there when he was a higher secondary level student.

"I had run the machines and developed the skills of operating all the machines at the factory. I learned the ins and out of the packaging sector as I grew a passion for it," he said. 

Although Osman wanted to move abroad, when he saw the business on the verge of shuttering, he decided to change plans.

"We used to work after getting work from a third party but I started marketing to get direct orders from the companies," he said, explaining one of his first steps.

Then in 1998, he launched a new factory, Hossain Box Industries and Corrugated Carton manufacturing, in the port city. 

"We found a huge demand for packaging and in 2004 we set up Hossain Packaging Ltd, the second unit with expansion into a different type of multicolor printed corrugated Carton manufacturing," he said.

Osman's work was far from over. In 2006, he set up an offset printing and  post-press unit moving into manufacturing consumer product packaging boxes. 

In 2016, Hossain Products started invitation card manufacturing and wholesale marketing. 

Soon exports began and the company has never looked back since.

Much more to do

Osman credits his success to ensuring quality of his products, something he never compromises on. 

"We offer a one-stop solution at our factory which is very important in this sector to capture the market. We have a modern lab where we check the quality of the products. Everything we do is done in a scientific and modern manner."

Osman also believes that there is still a lot left to achieve and the prospects are quite inviting. 

"We export RMG, but many of its packaging products are also imported from other countries though Bangladesh has recently seen the development of some international standard packing factories."

He said Bangladesh spends a significant amount of money importing packaging products from countries such as Vietnam, China, Sri Lanka, and India. 

"If we can brand our packaging and manufacture standard products that buyers want, we can capture the market while saving money. We have our sights set on this market. We have constructed our infrastructure around it in order to manufacture any packaging product required by any country," he said.

Osman knows that Bangladesh has enormous potential to diversify its export portfolio by utilising these sectors. 
As more Export Processing Zones are established, foreign companies establishing factories will require high quality packaging and import packaging items, which is what Osman wants to target. 
"As our economy expands, this sector will expand as well. We are providing packaging solutions to some Korean EPZ companies that used to import those packaging but we have captured those markets. Not only that, but many other packaging products are imported into Bangladesh - we have enormous opportunities here. Furthermore, we export our packaging both directly and through third parties to some of the most important RMG buyers," he said. 

Currently the company is making manufacturing corrugated carton, inner box and duplex board box, high quality corrugated boxes, duplex corrugated boxes, sheets and custom designed boxes, printing brochures, folders, flyers, and calendars. 

The company provides packaging solutions to food and beverage producers, tobacco companies, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic and agrochemical producers  and many others. 

There is huge demand in local and international markets. 

"Bangladesh has the potential to earn billions of dollars if the government provides support in the form of an industrial plot for building such a factory at our industrial zones," he said.

With eyes on the future, Osman has completed the revival phase and gone straight into expansion and exploring new horizons.