PrintWeek Awards 2026: Sona champs premiumisation with its specialty paper

Sona Papers, which has been supporting the PrintWeek Awards since its inception, has once again lent its paper expertise to the 16th edition of the Awards. 

According to Raju Suneja, director, sales and marketing, Sona Papers, India’s printing and packaging industry has held up well over the past year, though growth has been uneven across segments.

“Premiumisation is probably the single biggest tailwind our business has right now. Paper has stopped being treated as a line item and started being treated as part of the product experience, so we’re fielding far more enquiries for textured, coloured, pearlescent, cotton-rich substrates and sustainably produced substrates, across categories that used to default to standard board,” Suneja says.

He adds that brands are willing to pay a meaningful premium, often two to four times the cost of a conventional substrate, because they understand that the first tactile impression of a product often happens before the box is even opened.

Award-winning substrates

According to Suneja, luxury packaging and premium publishing are, without question, the company’s fastest-growing categories at the moment, followed closely by premium corporate communications — annual reports, boardroom collateral, and gifting for senior leadership and clients. Hospitality and five-star properties and boutique hotels are investing in tactile menus, welcome kits and in-room stationery as part of the guest experience. Publishing remains steady rather than explosive, largely concentrated in coffee-table books, art publications and limited-edition print runs.

The 16th edition of PrintWeek Awards is expected to receive a large number of print samples in the above-mentioned categories, and a large number of them are expected to be printed on paper supplied by Sona Paper. 

Embellishing paper

Suneja says that well-chosen premium papers are generally built to handle embellishment better than commodity stock, but performance still varies a lot by fibre composition, thickness and surface coating. “Cotton-rich and higher-gsm textured papers tend to hold embossing and debossing crisply without cracking, while smooth coated stocks are usually the better choice for fine spot UV detail and sharp foil registration. Laser cutting requires particular attention to fibre density and any coatings, since some finishes can scorch or discolour at the cut edge, so we always recommend a test cut before a full production run,” Suneja says.

He adds that price is never the first question anymore for the customers. Texture and tactile appeal usually come first — how the paper feels is often the deciding factor before a single sheet is printed. “Printability and predictable performance across finishing processes like foiling, embossing and UV are close behind, because a beautiful paper that fights the press or cracks under embossing quickly becomes a liability. Sustainability has moved from a nice-to-have to a genuine shortlist criterion in the last two to three years, particularly with brands that export or sell to environmentally conscious consumers.”

Sustainability issues

Sona Papers expects the premium and specialty segment to keep growing well ahead of the overall paper market, driven by continued premiumisation across packaging and gifting, the expansion of India’s D2C and luxury retail economy, and rising design literacy among younger brand owners and consumers.

“Sustainability will increasingly become table stakes rather than a differentiator, so mills and traders who can offer certified, responsibly sourced options alongside genuine aesthetic and performance credentials will be best placed. We also expect demand to broaden geographically beyond the metros as premium retail and gifting culture spreads into tier-2 markets,” Suneja concludes.