Shows on the scale of Interpack galvanise the industry’s suppliers and customers to gather in a single place somewhere in the world, creating ‘opportunities of a lifetime’ for novel products and breakthrough technologies. They are truly a gift for ‘blockbuster’ innovations, offering a superior springboard for must-haves that promise big rewards in production savings and sales revenue and other targeted benefits.
If an innovation can guarantee a more economical use of resources, so much the better: the subject is front and centre on European industry’s radar. The European Commission recently concluded a stakeholder consultation on a ‘roadmap for a resource-efficient Europe’. Action is needed to address the tension between an ever-expanding global economic system and the exploitation of finite resources and overexploitation of ecosystems, says the Commission. With more than 60% of the world's ecosystems categorised as ‘degraded’, the call to industry is aimed at finding ways to reverse the trend. As ever, in these pages we’ll keep striving to let readers know about packaging developments that play an albeit-small yet valuable part in achieving European goals.
Common among most companies is the struggle to keep heads above water in a rising tide of higher costs and inconsistent levels of demand. Change of some kind is inevitable be it a price rise or revised purchasing strategy. Machinery buyers in the label sector, for example, are scouring the market for lower operational costs and increased flexibility, as we discover in one of the features for this issue. In the confectionery market, subject of another feature this month, speed is of the essence and the boldness to break the mould to grab the shopper’s attention. Although hard workers are counting the small change in their pockets, they quite rightly deserve a little luxury. And luxuriousness is what special effects and finishes are designed to offer. Another of our features shows the many ways it is possible to play with light to make products look enticing.
Any change and improvement requires collaboration, and the key enabler is communication. Face to face meetings are, far and away, the better option, but they do come at a cost that has to be justified. Cutbacks in travel in particular have become a fact of life in the new era of tightened budgets and reining back carbon emissions. Despite these constraints, and maybe because of them, the Interpacks of this world will always remain important for connecting a lot of people in a short space of time.
And no matter where you are, you can depend on Packaging Today to keep you in touch in ways that use less energy, human or otherwise.
Joanne Hunter,
eputy Editor
