New Study: The Future of Flexible Packaging

Here at Viking Masek, our company provides the versatile machinery that industries desire to improve their packaging and production processes. In order to ensure our turn-key solutions create the latest in packaging that our clients require, we take careful analysis of current flexible packaging trends and future forecasts so we can continue to offer the latest innovative technologies. We have been paying close attention to the exceptional growth that has been occurring in the global flexible packaging market. There are several key trends that have caught our attention that will have an impact on future flexible packaging processes. Let's take a look at the three trends that we consider most important to share with our clients:

Size Matters in Flexible Packaging

According to Mintel, a leading market intelligence agency, "50% of health-conscious snackers say they’d be willing to try a new product if it comes in a small, trial-size pack, as brands’ product portfolios grow, the ability to reach consumers in unique and time-shifting use occasions means brand-owners must offer a greater range of pack sizes."

While certain household staples are still purchased in bulk, many products, especially food and beverages, are seeing a shift toward right-sized packaging for consumers that wish to try new and different products without committing to an entire 'regular-sized' package. As brand loyalty continues to decrease, especially among Millennial consumers, products offered in smaller packages give consumers the option to be introduced to products they may have passed over initially because of packaging they consider oversized.

This is not to say that food and beverage companies must focus mainly on smaller package types. On the contrary, manufacturers should consider offering their products in a wide range of sizes if they desire to market their products to the widest demographic. At Viking Masek, we offer flexible packaging equipment like the versatile and robust VFFS M400 that can create many different sizes and types of packages, with quick and easy no tool changeover.  

Flexible Packaging Stands Up

Mintel comments that "32% of consumers associate flexible packaging with being modern, and brands are tapping into flexibles’ nearly unparalleled decoration and marketing opportunities." This especially applies to the stand-up pouch, making its appearance in markets like candy, dairy, and alcoholic beverages. 

Stand up pouches capture consumer attention among the myriad of similar products presented before them. Consumers as a whole are gravitating more to products that stand up on shelves rather than products presented on pegs or that lay flat. As a result, we see increased interest in preformed pouches and our Rotary Premade Pouch Machine. 

The Green and Sustainable Packaging Gap

There has been "a focus on alternative package material sources and catering to the 63% of US consumers who’ve stated that reusable and repurposable packaging is a key purchasing driver," according to Mintel's latest consumer packaging trends study. But while many consumers say they desire recyclable or sustainable packaging, a good portion of them have no idea how or where to actually recycle these packages. They cannot just be thrown in with the recyclables. The truth is, there are not many convenient options to recycle product packaging, especially in smaller cities, and many packages labeled recyclable inevitably end up in the trash anyway.

As an industry, from materials to equipment, flexible packaging still has a way to go in its effort to produce truly green and sustainable packaging options. But the focus is there, and we have no doubt that innovations in packaging technologies to close this gap are just around the corner.