Page 34 - Packaging News Jan-Feb 2020

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FMCG PACKAGING
TRENDS 2020 www.packagingnews.com.au
January-February 2020
WHAT TYPE OF CONSUMER ARE YOU TARGETING?
The Tetra Pak Index 2019 report identifies six new consumer segments, each with their own attitudes towards health and the environment, and each offering different opportunities to food and beverage manufacturers and packers:
• Active ambassadors, who have high engagement in all aspects of health and environment and are willing to take action, challenge boundaries and influence others;
• Planet friends, who are willing to take action about the environment with high engagement on most aspects of health, but are less inclined to challenge boundaries;
• Health conscious, who are aware and engaged about the environment, but prioritise health over the planet and are prepared to pay more and sacrifice convenience for healthy products;
• Followers, who are engaged enough with health and environmental issues to feel guilty about both, but not inclined to change behaviour or try new things;
• Laggards, who lack knowledge and interest in all aspects of health and the environment and are sceptical about technology and change; and
• Sceptics, who are aware of environmental issues, but inclined to decline them as “fake news”, and have “traditional” views on food and health.
The Tetra Pak Index 2019 is available free from Tetra Pak’s website, www.tetrapak.com
It’s no longer good enough to try to pass responsibility back to upstream suppliers; suppliers and manufacturers need to work together to make sure that their sustainability stories match.” – Andrew Pooch
the status quo. They just don’t accept what we would have accepted; they want to know everything they can about a product and its packaging, so manufacturers have got to be ready with the answers or else they’re go- ing to get called out.
“Manufacturers need to strive for authenticity when telling the story of the product, to understand the whole carbon impact of the product, and to be able to substantiate the claims they are making.
“It’s no longer good enough to try to pass responsibility back to up- stream suppliers; suppliers and manufacturers need to work togeth- er to make sure that their sustain- ability stories match.
“Manufacturers need to forge a path forward with reputable up- stream suppliers, companies who can actually prove their sustainabil- ity message and understand the total carbon contribution, which includes the carbon contribution of the sup- plier and the manufacturer.”
BEYOND RECYCLING
The Tetra Pak Index 2019 report highlights that eco-friendly packag- ing, and recyclability specifically, are critical to consumers: “Recy- clability is now considered the num- ber one trait for many consumers. Recyclability is also the joint top association with environmentally sound products, and considered the third most appealing descriptor of a food or drink product overall,” the report says.
Pooch concurs, but believes the time of focusing on recycling is over.
“People are saying, okay, recycling is good. But let’s actually start to look
at the whole life cycle of products.” He cites the release of a new report from the New Zealand government, called Rethinking Plastics, which outlines ways to “reduce the size of the plastic shadow that is cast by modern life” through a National Plastics Action Plan that will enable a shift to more sustainable use of packaging. The report says this plan will embrace “new materials, new machines, new recycling tech- niques, new uses for recycled mate- rials, new business models, and per- haps most importantly, citizens who are ready to form a new relationship
with food packaging.”
What’s important, says Pooch, is
that the emphasis will fall on a whole life cycle approach, looking at the impacts of a product beyond just its disposal – and this, he believes, is the best way forward. ■
Health and environmental concerns continue to be a major driver behind the consumer’s packaged food choices.