PN Live pulls in the stars of packaging

Packaging News Live drew the experts of packaging for two days of talks, case studies, analysis and discussion on the trends and issues in the industry. Waqas Qureshi reports.

Packaging News Live took place 27-28 October at Kensington Olympia, London, bringing the very best insight on packaging innovation, manufacturing and design – as well as good networking opportunities.

Packaging managing directors, designers, technologists and manufacturers alike attended the show, discussing a variety of topics including sustainability, food safety, online retail, design, connected packaging and much more.

Kicking off the event was James Howitt, head of virtual shopper insights, GFK, who spoke about the packaging fit for the Omnishopper  – consumers who use technology for a shopping experience.

He talked about four strategic retail pillars which influence the choice of consumers: convenience, choice, price and experience.  He also stressed the importance of virtual reality and the tools companies can use when strategically planning their packs.

“I personally do not believe in trial and error. When you have a virtual environment and you have quantifiable results, it’s a really hard argument to lose. We are a great believer in it.”

He added that the company mocks up the environment, monitors the foot traffic, works through different scenarios, and sees how this impacts sales.

“We have to convince companies internally that virtual is the way to go. We have assessed virtual results against real results, and they are very similar.”
Sonia Whiteley-Guest, group commercial director at Sun Branding Solutions, focused on personalisation as a trend that drives packaging innovation.

This is linked to brand loyalty, and engages consumers at shelf and at home. It adds value to their products to differentiate from own brand and competitors.

“Personalisation is a great way to feel something has been created for us.”

She added that the over-50s will hold 80% of the UK’s wealth in less than 15 years. They will be the decision makers and the drivers for consumer demand.
Whiteley-Guest added: “But how many of us are equipped to deal with their needs?  It’s about inclusive design and I think we are only seven years from the tipping point.”

Sustainable approach

Louis Lindenberg, global packaging sustainability director at Unilever, spoke and answered audience questions about how the FMCG giant has been increasing efficiency and reducing waste.

He outlined progress on Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan, which launched in 2010, and discussed collaboration across the entire supply chain.
Lindenberg explained that collaboration was the key to delivering Unilever’s waste targets and the greater industry agenda. The FMCG giant, he said, was focused on resource reduction and resource efficiency – trying to take out as much material as possible and promoting more reuse.

“We initially focus on how to reduce the amount of material we are using – lighter and less material and trying to keep to one material type. From any business perspective the biggest focus area is materials – we are consuming millions and millions of tons of materials. There are a lot of resources being wasted – energy, materials, etc. The biggest thing as an industry is trying to change that.”

He added that generally there are 10 times more resources used in a product  than the packaging.

Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, vice president of marketing at Highcon, explained that the traditional cutting and creasing dies are being made obsolete by digital processes.

He said: “Production is analogue – it’s happened in pre-press and automation and is happening in print. It will happen in finishing. We are trying to lead the revolution in the finishing stage and make it much faster because converting and digitising a process can take decades. We want to do it in several years.”

Digital adoption

Highcon works with mid-size brands in food, confectionery and alcohol, which it said are the areas that heavily pursue innovation and understand the value of creating a package. They are adopting technology earlier than others.

Ben-Shitrit added: “Adoption to digital equipment will accelerate. More and more brand owners will have access to digital technology and more projects will involve this technology.”

Nicholas Mockett, head of packaging M&A at financial adviser Moorgate Capital, said 2015 was the biggest ever year  (£35bn deals worldwide) and it would naturally have been hard to compete against that figure in 2016.

However, he did point to significant activity – particularly in flexible plastics. He mentioned Clondalkin flexibles being acquired by Dutch based private equity company Egeria, and RPC buying BPI.

“There’s a lot of interest in flexibles because they are high growth and high margin businesses. Also rigid plastics has seen a lot of activity. RPC has been busy again.”
He added that private equity continues to be important in the packaging market, with roughly 30% of M&A in packaging being private equity based. “That looks set to continue as there have been many funds raised that have not yet been deployed.”

“We are also still to see how Brexit plays. We have not seen any dampening of enthusiasm as a consequence of that, but time will tell.”
Mockett added that it was simplistic to think that due to the weakness of sterling, UK companies look cheap, as revenues or earnings at British companies will also go down 20% against the euro.

“Whatever happens in 2017, the way packaging has competed with FTSE market, you expect a really good year from a really resilient industry. And remember, people don’t stop eating, drinking and brushing their teeth just because there is a recession on. They may trade down to something cheaper but that still comes in packaging. If there is a significant recession I think we will see the packaging industry fare relatively well, especially compared to other industries like auto and construction.”

Mick Thornton, sales and marketing director, DS Smith, UK Packaging,  talked about DS Smith’s ambitious digital print programme and challenged the industry to re-frame how digital print is seen in the retail space.

“The packaging industry is going through a revolution, more than evolution – it’s a great time to be in packaging. We have a great story to tell in corrugated. It’s a genuine closed loop.”

Tony Foster, director at DS Smith, UK Packaging, said investment was key, with several new centres devoted to design and innovation, which he expects will bring insight and new thinking to brand owners, helping them develop great packaging that supports brand image and product sales.

Sam Hyde, packaging technologist at Innocent drinks, said that with the product now more established, the company is now focusing more on investing in materials.
Hyde said that Innocent wanted to produce its most sustainable plastic bottle yet.

“It has taken us time to grow in the market and now we can focus on the materials that we use. It is a one-step, two-step process. We hope to lead by example in the category and others follow.

“Within sustainability there are quick and easy wins but there are often conflicts between commercial and sustainable. But innocent gets sustainability – it is embedded in the business. While we do need to maintain that iconic brand, behind that everything is being done to improve sustainability.”

Roger Wright, head of technical packaging, clothing and home at M&S, discussed future trends in web retail packaging. He spoke about the pace of change in digital retailing, and how M&S believes it continues to be fertile ground for packaging innovation.

Simon Wright, managing director, Greenwich Design, spoke about the luxury packaging market, and how it is important that the packaging reflects the high price tag it demands. Based on his own experience designing and sourcing the packaging for high end aromatherapy brand, Therapie, Wright described how luxury packaging can go beyond being purely functional and add pleasure and purpose to a consumer’s purchase.

Bruce Funnell, head of packaging at Nestle PTC, spoke about food safety, how brands perceive the packaging challenges it poses and what the packaging supply chain – from raw materials manufacturers through to coatings suppliers and packaging manufacturers – should be doing to help ensure safety, mitigate risk and enhance consumer confidence in the brand.

JP Hunter, creative director at Webb deVlam, delivered a case study on the revival of Scotch whisky liqueur Drambuie’s brand identity and packaging. He discussed how packaging design helped resurrect the brand’s heritage and status, while modernising the brand without compromising the classic hues that retain consumer recognisability.

Consumer engagement

David Jenkinson, creative director at Elmwood, spoke about brand innovation and the role of design.

Jenkinson said brands are deepening their engagement with consumers through experience innovation, particularly FMCG businesses, and added that design was a strategic tool to deliver success.

Andy Hobsbawm, co-founder of Internet of Things (IoT) software company EVRYTHNG gave a captivating talk about smart packaging and IoT that explained current developments and provided a glimpse into the not too distant packaging future.

There were also engaging panel discussions involving Theodoros Striftompolas from Jaguar Land Rover, Stefan Casey (Retail Institute), Roger Wright (M&S) Alison Vincent (AVA packaging solutions), Leo Hadden (BrandOpus) and David Tonkin (2 Sisters Food Group).

Overall, PN Live delivered expert opinion and insightful facts from a raft of packaging professionals.