Marketing, sales and consumer behaviour – March 2022

Packaging - Market information and trends
According to McKinsey, over the past few decades the global packaging industry has enjoyed steady (‘healthy’) growth, supported by several megatrends. These trends will continue to shape the business, and two of them - sustainability and digital (particularly e-commerce) - are expected to create significant challenges as well as opportunities.
According to preliminary figures (1.38 kB) published by Cepi, the EU production of paper and board used for packaging is estimated to have increased by 7.1% in 2021 when compared to 2020. FINAT statistics show that in 2021, European self-adhesive label demand increased by another 7%, after an increase of 4.3% in 2020. However, the industry is now facing a raw materials shortage. According to Smithers, the metal packaging market will be worth $127.3 billion in 2022. A forecast CAGR of 2.9% will push the total value to $147.1 billion in 2027. You can download an infographic after filling in your details.

Pharmaceutical packaging
According to L.E.K., COVID-19 has pushed the trend toward home healthcare solutions into overdrive. Consequently, “home health in a box” has become a critical part of the healthcare value chain. Older adults are open to using smart packaging to improve their medication-taking experience, a new University of Waterloo study finds. The study is published (1.28 MB) in PLOS ONE. A Lund University study (543 kB) published in Age and Ageing highlights the need for patient-centred solutions and involvement of older people in a co-design process for medication and packaging.

Effects Ukraine conflict on the market for wood
FEFPEB expects the Ukraine conflict to cause significant pressure on the supply of wood, and therefore pallets and packaging, in the coming weeks. The Dutch Packaging & Pallet Industry Association EPV has also issued a statement (in Dutch) about wood becoming scarce.

Consumers and food packaging
In an article (2.09 MB) published in Sustainability, JSVIAT researchers explore consumer preferences for yogurt packaging design. A recent study (7.75 MB) by WUR reveals that date marking related visual cues on packaging can help consumers to reduce food waste.

Consumers and sustainability
A survey (638 kB) by Ipsos and Plastic Free July has revealed that more than 8 in 10 people across 28 countries agree that single-use plastic should be banned as soon as possible. According to University of Exeter researchers, the labelling of plastic products needs a drastic overhaul including a new "sustainability scale" to help consumers. A paper (5.47 MB) on the subject is published in Environmental Science and Policy. WUR researchers have identified an effective combination of implicit and explicit design elements, coined as the Meaningful Reminder, as a promising step forward to increase sustainable (disposal) behaviour. An article (14.1 MB) about the research is published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. A PUEB study (5.72 MB) published in Sustainability highlights the need for a mandatory system of packaging labelling in order to enhance recycling.

Prices for plastics
Dutch trade magazine Vraag en Aanbod publishes a weekly overview of the prices for plastics (in Dutch). The prices given are estimated averages between the gross prices published in the trade journals and the net prices.
 

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