The packaging industry is at the intersection of several important changes. We often talk about these changes individually but it is just as important to consider them as a whole, to measure the full impact of what it will take for your company to continue to thrive. Here are some of the main change factors, some of which we’ve addressed in our blog.
- The millennial generation has just recently become dominant, imposing its values and purchasing habits.
- The customer’s strong desire for transparency on health issues is forcing manufacturers to divulge information about their products and make it readily available for consumers.
- Parallel to health, sustainability is becoming an important consideration for consumers. They want to know how the product and it’s packaging will help reduce present day resource consumption in the interest of future generations.
- Technological advances in the supply chain such as real-time tracking are enabling more and more emphasis on freshness, just as customers are demanding it more.
- There is further and further segmentation in many markets. Manufacturers enabled by technology such as shrink sleeve and inkjet printing are able to subdivide their product lines to reach more niche markets.
On May 9th and 10th a conference called “Reinventing the Food and Beverage industry: Driving next generation excellence” will be held in New Orleans, with the aim of bringing packaging professionals up to speed on all of these industry challenges and understanding them as a whole.
It is the first time we hear of a conference with the aim of looking all major industry trends at once and encouraging discussion on what competencies will be required to address them going forward.
We find that a holistic approach such as this one is perfectly logical because it is centred on changing consumer and customer values.
We strongly believe that if you center your activities on the constant that is the customer, then you’ll be able to weather these industry changes, no matter how chaotic they may seem.
If you’d like to know more about how we can guide you and provide helpful insight in making your packaging design and execution relevant in today’s world, contact us. We’ll be happy to help
