Equipment | Packaging Materials | Environment | The Business of Packaging | Plant Performance | Investment
Clean Machines, Packaging, and Consumer Expectations in 2017
Pack Expo 2016 is a wrap, no pun intended. Beyond telling you how amazing the weather was in the Windy City for the show, we have a few worthwhile takeaways to share. Vertical form, fill, seal machinery dominated the floors; Pouches are continuing to grow in popularity and are innovating how brands go to market, and recyclable, environmentally-friendly, & compostable films are becoming resilient and competitive to other films. Plus, consumers want them!
Vertical Form-Fill-Seal Machinery
One of the noticeable trends on the show floors this year was the seriously vast amount of Vertical Form-Fill-Seal! The machines were practically at every turn, from ultra-sanitary to multi-axis servo, the VFFS market was heavily covered at the show. The innovative new options and flexibility these machines were showing off really are going to have a great positive impact for manufacturers in 2017.
Pouch Packaging
Speaking to a recent blogs notion of convenience being a consumer trend, Pack Expo shared the sentiment! Pouch packaging is continuing to grow and become a dominating force on the retail shelves, and consumers love it. Daisy Sour Cream changed the game with their sour cream packaging just last year. They ditched the long-pained tub design for a new inverted squeezable foil pouch. According to Daisy, its the first of its kind to be used in dairy. The genius packaging overhaul has made consumers (like this guy) EXTREMELY happy.
Recyclable, Compostable, Sustainable
There's no question that flexibility is key to packaging in the coming years and the internet of things, but recyclable, sustainable, and compostable films caught my eye while wandering the show on Sunday afternoon. Beyond other trends that are more expected, like tamper evident packaging, environmentally friendly, recyclable and compostable films were more visible than my last Pack Expo experience. Consumers are going to be looking for more of this, and granted the cost is still more than plastics, the films are longer-lasting, and growing visually ans physically more similar to their poly-competition.
Overall, the message I left with from the Pack Expo 2016 is this: The future of packaging is going to be flexible & earth-friendly, and if you aren't thinking of the future of your product packaging now, a competitor is. We can help your brand with all of the items mentioned above. Get on top of the trends with our team!
