Adding fizz to soda bicarb
Ahead of the CPhI exhibition at Bandra Kurla Complex , Mumbai, India, on November 21-23, Dr Richard Diggle, Business Development and Quality Manager, Tata Chemicals Europe, speaks about expectations from the event.
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Recently, the team represented Tata Chemicals Europe (TCE) at CPhI Worldwide in Barcelona — was it a successful endeavour?
Yes, to be honest it was more successful than I would have hoped for. Our stand was busy for pretty much the entire exhibition. As well as generating lots of new leads, it is also a great opportunity to meet with existing customers from all over the world.
How is the Mumbai event different?
The worldwide event attracts people from across the globe, whereas CPhI India is focused solely on the Indian pharmaceutical market which we regard as being a key growth market for ourselves and our colleagues at Tata Chemicals in India, who are also looking to develop pharmaceutical grades of sodium bicarbonate. We have never exhibited at this show before so it will be really exciting to see how it differs from the ones in Europe.
What are you hoping to get out of the event?
Principally, we are hoping to raise awareness of the fact that Tata Chemicals and Tata Chemicals Europe both have pharmaceutical grades of sodium bicarbonate which comply with IP and EP/USP monographs, and of course if we can develop some new business on the back of the exhibition that would be great. We're also looking forward to make people aware of the fact that British Salt is part of Tata Chemicals, and whilst we don't make pharmaceutical grades of salt it is amongst the highest quality salt made anywhere in the world and perfect for food, cosmetics and technical applications.
What are you particularly looking forward to about the event — have you set any targets?
India is such a massive market that I don't think we have really scratched the surface of understanding the need for pharmaceutical grades of sodium bicarbonate, so I am hoping that we will develop a thorough knowledge of market requirements.
And what are you looking forward to about the trip in general?
Wherever we have exhibited in the past we always get positive attention due to the fact we're part of the Tata family, and so I am expecting that we will get a huge amount of interest exhibiting in India where the Tata name is so familiar and respected. Also, last time I visited Mumbai it was during the monsoon season so it was limiting in terms of sightseeing, so I am really looking forward to catching up with some friends and hopefully seeing a bit more of the city.
Will you get chance to catch up with your Tata Chemicals (TCL) colleagues?
Yes, actually we are attending the exhibition jointly with our colleagues from TCL. We are there to promote our brands of EP/USP grades of sodium bicarbonate and they are there to promote an IP-compliant grade of sodium bicarbonate under the Pharmakarb brand that they will soon be launching. I think it will be really interesting to learn more about what each of us do and I'm also expecting it to be great fun working with them.
How can we follow or keep in touch with you?
We'll be putting messages out on LinkedIn during our stay at the exhibition. We also will be running a competition where we will be encouraging visitors to follow us on LinkedIn during the exhibition, and at the end of the show we will pick a new follower at random and they will win a prize.
Where can visitors come and say hello to you at the event?
We will be at stand BB9 at the BKC [Bandra Kurla Complex , Mumbai] venue. We'd love people to drop by and say hello, and maybe grab one of our special Love Heart sweets, which are classic candy from the UK made, of course, with our sodium bicarbonate to give them a nice fizz.