One of the top trends driving consumer purchases this year is sustainability, reports Information Resources Inc, a company that provides retail tracking information. In 2002, only 5 products were released with an environmentally friendly claim. In 2007, the number of products jumped to 328.
There are 3 reasons companies use sustainability practices.
1. long term well-being of the environment
2. betterment of society
3. enhancing the bottom line
According to Patrick Smorch, Georgia-Pacific's director of packaging sustainability, packaging affects every aspect of business. "From product protection to logistics and shelf appeal, packaging is a necessity for consumer packaged goods companies. Even the smallest efforts at sustainability can garner big savings when you consider the effects on the entire packaging supply chain."
Consumers are demanding sustainable packaging. Jeanne von Zastrow, senior director of member services for the Food Marketing Insitute, has made this a high-priority issues with FMI members. "On the part of consumers, there is an increasing interest in buying food products, including meat and poultry products, based on packaging. By that, I don't mean packaging that is decorative or that comes in a certain style. What I really mean is purchasing products that have less...packaging...in fact, as little packaging as possible. And as retailers, we're trying to figure out how our companies can make their operations more renewable and friendlier to the environment. The packages that our food products come in are getting a lot of our attention."
sustainable packaging article
As a food producer, how much research have you done on packaging your product? If you are considering changing to a more sustainable package, would market your product as sustainably packaged?
