As one of the world’s most important packaging trade fairs, interpack will bring together most of the companies involved in the industry.
It will be interesting to see what the latest trends are, especially in terms of sustainability and product safety, as the focus on hygiene is likely to remain important but take a secondary position in terms of priority. Organizers even stated that the main areas of interest will include circular economy, resource conservation, digital technology, and product safety.
Obviously, sustainability is the umbrella that all industries need to operate under now. According to a McKinsey global survey, 75% of companies have already made sustainable-packaging commitments. The survey also found that for B2B and industrial companies, packaging sustainability has been given less attention, with about 66% of such companies having sustainable-packaging commitments compared with 80% of consumer goods companies.
At the same time, however, McKinsey data showed that fewer than 30% of organizations overall are well prepared to meet their commitments. According to the research company, an often-mentioned factor challenging firms’ ability to achieve their sustainability ambitions is the underlying complexity of their product portfolios.
“In consumer companies, packaging design can often be determined by out-of-date technical requirements: it is not uncommon for companies to have product specifications carried over from earlier-generation products,” the report shows. The important figure, though, is this: 75% of companies consider packaging sustainability only after the product concept has been finalized. So, could the key lie in the pre-development stages of the product? This will probably be one of the talking points at interpack, along with many others, and I’m looking forward to sitting down and having this conversation in-person.
See you in Dusseldorf!