Packaging trends in Australia and NZ

Sustainability is a key consideration for the packaging industry and now is the time to keep it simple. This was one of the messages delivered at the Australian Institute of Packaging - National Technical Forum, which was held in Melbourne last month.

Associate Professor Brian Burns from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, says ‘greenwashing’ is upsetting a lot of people and overloading consumers with information is causing confusion. “We don’t need to get more complicated, we need to get simple,” he says.

In his presentation he compared the current consumer and packaging trends in parallel with how nature deals with packaging. “The orange gets my vote for a lifetime achievement award in packaging,” he says. The orange as well as other products in nature are perfectly packaged and don’t need any instructions written all over them to tell the consumer how to use them. Do we need to be told that an orange has to be peeled and then eaten? The same goes for other products such as shampoo, for example. We know how to use the product but, despite this, the packaging still includes a long list of instructions telling us how to use the product.

It is clear we have evolved a natural understanding of how to use certain products. This same understanding can be achieved with packaging, both on how to use it and discard it. Burns says too many people are confused and ill-served by packaging labels. When you take a look at all the eco labels currently available, it is no wonder that consumers are becoming overloaded and don’t really understand what half of them mean. Burns has called for the Australian packaging industry to become involved in an international system of labelling to make it simple for consumers.

He went on to say that he sees a future trend will be in the area of the bulk food dispensing market. He says the technology to ensure freshness is already available and it makes sense to re-use packaging this way.

According to Bassam Hallak, Global Director - Food from Avery Dennison, Asia is the engine room for growth and the Middle East and Africa are the sleeping giants for the packaging industry. Markets such as Asia are very brand focused as they want to embrace the western world in their lives.

“The packaging must maximise shelf appeal and seize the moment of choice,” he says. There are so many brands out on the market, the labelling and packaging is all important for shelf appeal. Hallak agrees with the notion of simplicity: clear labels can be used to let the product sell itself. Clear labels on a bottle of olives, for example, is a current trend in packaging labels which lets the consumer see the product, and no instructions are necessary.

Hallak says the key consumer trends for packaging will be designing packaging for the ageing, protecting scarce resources, green/sustainability and portability.

He says glass and metal packaging is out of favour due to its weight, and flexible rigid plastic is an area where there will be good growth.

RFID label technology has been around for a while and will one day be affordable. Using this technology will allow consumers to have the shopping trolley automatically charged without having to unload and reload the trolley. This information can then be used restock the shelves ready for their next visit. This technology may then be linked with mobile phone applications to buy ingredients for a particular recipe.

Technology is always becoming cheaper to deploy, but freshness is a key need in packaging including how to keep it fresh after opening.

Mark Ellis, Managing Director of Sensory Solutions, says that packaging is more than just a vessel for delivering a product. It conveys a sensory cue and allows the consumer to visualise the taste and smell of the product inside. The branding is just part of the package which needs to engage the consumer in around two to three seconds. Packaging that allows the consumer to see a picture of the product or see the product through a window works best, says Ellis. He adds that the picture must be realistic otherwise the consumer will be disappointed and will not trust the product again.

Some of the latest innovations in packaging he has found include the plastic beer bottle and the Reebok hiking shoe that is packaged with the shoe sticking to the box to demonstrate how the product works.

As consumers have so much choice, too much information on packaging may be overwhelming. The product has to stand out and engage and excite them. After it’s bought it’s all about the functionality of the packaging. By improving the functionality of the packaging for storage in the pantry, the branding is then reinforced with the consumer.

“The challenge for packaging is how to innovate to meet consumer demand,” says Hallack. The major trends identified in consumer demand include the environmental considerations such as re-use and recycling, design for an ageing population such as easy opening, and larger print, freshness, portability and simplicity.