Our Journey so far

Pak Agro Packaging Private Ltd. started its operations in May 2001 as the first company to provide agricultural textiles to the local market.

The Company’s corporate head office is in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan while its factory is at Hattar Industrial Estate, Haripur in the KPK Province.

The Head Office houses the administration, finance and marketing functions. The company also maintains presence in some provincial towns through placement of marketing representatives.

The factory in Hattar manufactures most of the products handled by the Company. The Company also gets some of the products partly processed by specially contracted vendors.

The factory is ideally located to serve the agricultural belt of the country. It is well connected by excellent all-weather tarmac roads to all major agricultural centres of all the provinces in the country.

The Company maintains a network of Authorised Distributors throughout the country. As far as possible, all local sales are made only through authorized distributors. Authorised Distributors are permitted to appoint sub-dealers in consultation with the Company.

Company History

The Company was originally incorporated in February 1989 under the name and style of Kohsar Tyres Ltd. It acquired a two-acre plot in Phase IV of Hattar Industrial Estate, Haripur, NWFP.
Kohsar Tyres Ltd. never commenced operations and was subsequently acquired by another group of shareholders who renamed the company as Mian and Khan Industries (Private) Ltd. This group did not use the plot or carried out any business either. The present Management of the Company acquired the entire share capital of the company, principally to get ownership and possession of the two-acre piece of land, which was company’s only asset. The company was renamed as Pak Agro Packaging (Private) Ltd. (PAPPL). This change of name was achieved on 24 August 2000, along with an appropriate amendment in company’s Memorandum of Association to allow for change in nature of its business, namely to undertake the business of manufacturing net bags and other agricultural related textiles, mainly packaging materials and protective / support products for agricultural sector of the country.
The company commenced its commercial production towards the end of 2000, with only two machines: a stretch bags making machine and a Raschel machine for making net bags. At that stage, it was getting its flat yarn manufactured by an outside vendor. It was soon discovered that in order to maintain the quality and reliability of supply, the company will have to acquire its own flat yarn making machine. This was done in 2001. With products gaining visibility and recognition in the market, the company soon found it necessary to add another Raschel Machine to enhance its production of net bags and greenhouse shades. In late 2002 this was done. A continuous market study revealed that there is a much larger market for greenhouse shades prepared with round yarn and having a width of 3 meters (as opposed to our flat yarn). Therefore, in July 2004, the company imported a complete set of machines to manufacture flat yarn and to make broader, heavier greenhouse shades sought by the upper segments of the market.
In 2021, the Company took a leap of faith and got converted into a public limited company. In November 2021, it became the first company to be listed at the GEM Board of Pakistan Stock Exchange. Its IPO proved a great success and helped us raise Rs 198 million. This was invested in installing several new machines and construction of a new production hall – as well as improving our capacity to sustain higher levels of operations, by maintaining larger stocks throughout the year
Information about the directors and senior management of the Company is given elsewhere in this report.

The current products of the company include:
a. Greenhouse shades of different varieties and specifications
b. Plant support nets
c. Bale nets
d. Anti Insect Nets
e. Anti Bird Nets
f. Anti Hail Nets
g. Mulching film
h. Packaging Materials including stretched nets and knitted nets used for packing a wide variety of vegetables and fruits.
i. Polyethylene bags for fish and related products used principally for fish exports.
j. Fishing nets of different varieties and specifications to meet demands from lake fishing to deep sea fishing requirements.

The Factory Location

The factory is located at Plots 22 and 23, Phase IV of Hattar Industrial Estate, Haripur, KPK. The site is about 40 kms from Islamabad. It is well connected by excellent all-weather tarmac roads with all major agricultural centres of Punjab and KPK, and indeed all the provinces. It has excellent infrastructural facilities including adequate power supply, water, gas, road and telecommunication links, drainage, access to labour, etc.

Size & Construction

The factory has a land area of two acres and constructed area of about 90,000 square feet. In addition to the main production hall (that also houses the storage area for raw materials, spares as well as finished products), there is an office block and workers’ quarters. The premises also have a mosque for employees, and ample area for greenery to give an environmentally pleasant appearance.

The Plant

The company has imported all the machines from most appropriate sources to ensure the best possible quality for its products. Its plant is well balanced and capable of meeting the demands for most varieties of greenhouse shades, net bags, other packing and support nets, and fishing nets required by the Pakistani market.

Quality Control

Key Principles
The Company is committed to providing the finest quality products to its clients and to maintain its stature as the country’s pioneer and leading supplier of agriculture and marine based support products.

Key steps
These include:
o All production processes are documented.
o No material is accepted in the factory, or issued to production, unless it has been tested and found satisfactory for the purpose.
o No finished product is transferred from factory to finished goods warehouse unless it has been tested and found of required standard.
o There is an active Research and Development Department.

The Market

Pakistan produces a large quantity of vegetables and fruits for local consumption and export. At present, net bags are being made only by PAPL and few other smaller firms. Its only alternative is jute bags that are not only too expensive, they are also harmful as they transmit viruses through re-use. While it is difficult to accurately assess the real market potential (due to lack of awareness of the usefulness of the product among its prospective users), we believe that given the right price and quality, net bags can penetrate the packing market in more or less the same way as ordinary polythene bags overwhelmed the paper-bags in recent past.
The size of the market can only be assessed by the size of vegetable and fruit production in the country. This is given at over 50 million metric tons per year. Since a net bag can carry a maximum of 25 kg weight and considering that the produce may change hands more than once before it reaches the final consumer, the market size appears to be as large as 3,000 million bags p.a. Hence, the sponsors envisage no difficulty in marketing the product since the market is gradually getting well informed of the benefits of using appropriate packaging material.
Similarly, the size of the market for greenhouse and other related shades like anti-insect nets, anti-hail nets, anti-birds nets, bale nets, etc. is simply too enormous for the company to contemplate meeting even 20% of the market share. Due to the hard work done by the company over the past several years, this line of products has gained awareness in the market, leading to virtual stop to its imports.
While we are still new in the fishing nets market, we have already carved a niche for our products due to the use of correct raw material and efficient production processes. Our products compete quite favourably with imported items and in certain cases extract a price premium. Our production is able to meet less than 25% of the market needs at present. This offers us considerable scope for future expansion.

Marketing and Distribution Network

For the purpose of maintaining an effective distribution network, we have divided the country into five regions namely Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan, KPK. and Azad Kashmir. The larger regions, namely Sindh and Punjab have been further sub-divided into three zones each. In this way, we have nine marketing zones in the country.

Each zone has between six and nine districts, or territories. One Sole Distributor has been appointed in each Territory. Collectively, this network ensures that our products are available in all parts of the country, conveniently and economically.

Export Potential

While the capacity of our plant meets only a percentage of the local demand, the potential for export cannot be altogether ignored. In particular, net bags can be exported as part of fruits and vegetables exports. Over the recent past, a good percentage of potatoes and onions exported from Pakistan were packed in the net bags made by this company.

Market Strategy

The company has already set up its distribution network by appointing distributors in all major cities of Pakistan. A sales force is being maintained at the head office to provide information and assistance to all clients. Sales personnel make frequent visits to see distributors and clients throughout the year. The Remuneration package offered to the sales force has a significant commission element. Commission rates offered to distributors are volume-related to provide an incentive.