Exclusive: Smart Packaging Brings Smart Savings

Smart packaging is not just window dressing to attract consumers to a new package – the potential savings it can bring to companies and consumers is real. With key driving forces such as increased safety, brand protection, extended shelf life and compliance with regulations, the demand for smart packaging continues to grow.

By Maria Ferrante, senior director, marketing and communications PMMI

The 2019 Flexible Packaging Marketing Assessment from PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, notes that key technology developments, like intelligent packaging, continue to support packaging growth across a broad variety of manufacturing segments.

Smart packaging refers to packaging systems with embedded sensor technology and can be used to extend shelf life, monitor freshness, display information on quality and improve product and customer safety. Active packaging and intelligent packaging are two methods to achieve smart packaging.

Active packaging enhances functionality such as moisture control, while intelligent packaging incorporates features that indicate status, communicate product changes and other information. And according to research from Smithers Pira, The Future of Active & Intelligence Packaging to 2023, the combined active and intelligent packaging market is forecast to grow at an annual average rate of 5.9%, hitting USD7.56bn by 2023.

This growth is due to several factors driving the development of advances in smart packaging technology:

Engaging consumers

Improving consumer engagement is one of the biggest drivers of intelligent packaging use. Smart packaging can change how a product is marketed and received by consumers. Brand owners are encouraging consumer interaction by using methods such as a QR code that leads to a simple smartphone game.

Brand owners are also using packaging to connect with consumers through their smartphones. One trend on the horizon is the use of smartphones for payment, allowing the buyer to scan the item he or she is buying in the store and automatically pay without waiting in a checkout line. This approach to retail provides brands with a new route into the digitally-engaged consumer’s lifestyle, via their packaging.

To read the complete article, please refer to our latest July-August 2019 print issue of Potato Processing International.