We enjoyed seeing many of you at the NEC Packaging Innovations show in March. Whether you managed to visit the show or sadly missed it, we thought that you would like to hear what our show visitors were talking to us about. In communicating to you now, these thoughts are the ones that have proven to have longevity…
Brexit and Currency Volatility
This is obviously a big factor affecting all players in the food packaging industry: suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers alike. With planning for any uncertainty being almost impossible (packaging pricing especially), what should food manufacturers do and what are the packaging suppliers doing to help them?
What Aegg thinks…
For buyers of higher packaging volumes who are engaged in price commitments to large retailers we think the solutions are twofold:
As a consequence of the decline in the sterling exchange rate is that UK manufacturers are seeing increased demand for export and an increase in prices in some material inputs. This creates a change in the supply and demand situation, forcing some UK manufacturers to put prices up for UK customers. Aegg would hope to avoid such situations by agreeing supply contracts.
Agile Design and Integrating Consumer Opinion
We attended a Danone presentation on the development of its new packaging for their Aptamil infant formula brand.
Although this was a story of a uniquely complex piece of packaging that is to be sold in vast quantities across the globe the message of this talk has huge relevance for all scales of new packaging development:
What Aegg thinks…
We thoroughly agree that old design processes are outdated. At Aegg, we refer to:
Aegg is currently adopting both design approaches (holistic concurrent design and agile design) in the development of its fresh soup and pasta sauce packaging project. We are observing and talking to consumers in the home as they use our new and innovative lidding solution in this project.
Growing Need for Greater Environmental Consideration
Perhaps we need say no more than this: according to a talk given by Marks and Spencer at the Packaging Innovations show, ‘by 2050, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish.’
What an alarming statistic.
What Aegg thinks…
Plastic is a packaging material whose properties bring great benefit to us all and, until now, humanity has largely behaved in the belief that the benefits outweigh the downsides. This will not remain the case, and being a responsible player in the plastics industry, Aegg is constantly looking at initiatives where we can reduce our environmental impact.
Besides the usual programmes to reduce waste and resource consumption at our premises, we are considering the following:
We are aiming to announce an update on our environmental initiatives at the September Packaging Innovations show.
The Increasing Shift Towards Partnerships
Aegg noticed this shift at previous Packaging Innovations events and through our own client collaborations. It became even more apparent at this year’s show with an increasing number of enquirers looking for closer long term partnerships.They are looking for greater transparency, faster innovation and a closer match of product features with consumer needs.
What Aegg thinks…
This trend can only increase as
In reflection of this, Aegg continues to invest heavily in a holistic, bespoke, concurrent turnkey ‘design to delivery’ service. By working with client teams on food packaging that reflects total life cycle considerations, we aim to create products with superior shelf stand-out , superior end consumer performance at less total cost.
If you’ve come across emerging trends within the packaging industry and would like to share them, we'd love to hear from you.
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Aegg at Packaging Innovations:
Aegg successfully showcased new product ranges and services, attracting a huge amount of interest to our stand.
Plus, our new miniAegg service went down a storm with smaller food companies that want to order Aegg's off-the-shelf packaging range in smaller quantities to fit their cashflow and storage needs.
Future Packaging Innovations:
Aegg will be exhibiting at the forthcoming Packaging Innovations exhibition in London on 13-14 September 2017. Come and visit us!