Key packaging trends set to form a major element of ProSweets 2019
Major packaging trends for the confectionery sector will be among the core themes of the upcoming ProSweets international trade fair event.
The global showcase, taking place between January 27th-30th 2019, is set to highlight a host of new equipment releases, specialist services and industry insight into the most incisive trends influencing the market.
Researchers from Innova Market Insights will demonstrate this in detail on the “Sweet Trends” special zone in the Boulevard in the passage leading to the packing section of the event, where visitors will be granted insights into the latest packing trends and most recent developments in the sweets and snacks segment.
Among the event’s main features is a special “Packaging – function meets Design” event with partners from the sector, demonstrating how innovative packing materials can be combined with creative ideas for new product concepts. A team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Microsystems and Solid Body Technologies that is working on holistic and complete traceability is also on board.
To achieve this the scientists from Munich are integrating intelligent sensors into the packaging that carry out the quality control. Furthermore, a sustainability course for packaging and design organised by pacoon, one of the leading packaging design agency in the DACH zone, awaits the visitors. The agency will be presenting ideas for individually optimised solutions for companies from the sweets industry at ProSweets Cologne – from the strategy, to the packaging concept, material and recycling aspects, through to the communication.
As organisers of ProSweets explained, packaging stands in direct context to the product more than any other advertising material. It generates brand identity and sets trends. So, authenticity is particularly important here. This applies all the more since the selection of sweets and snacks is constantly increasing. Sweets and snacks manufacturers, who are looking for more packing design options, will find an extensive range of solutions at the trade fair.
Whether the relevant point is aesthetics, functionality, protection or sustainability: Packaging that convinces through its design is what counts at the point of sale. The significance of the packaging design as a means of distinction has increased strongly over the past years, because in the meantime there is an incredible variety of sweets on the shelves. These are traditionally presented every year at the end of January at the international sweets and biscuits trade fair, ISM, in Cologne. Anyone, who walks around the eight halls, will encounter a kaleidoscope of colours, shapes and patterns.
Presenting the brand
It is above all the premium brands that strive to appeal to the senses with a clear design, haptic characteristics and striking embellishments directly on the shelves. ProSweets Cologne, which is held parallel to ISM in Hall 10.1, paves the way for the sweets and snacks manufacturers. The focus is on the selection of colours and materials as well as on the design at the numerous stands of the manufacturers of packing materials.
However, adds the team behind ProSweets, in today’s era of sustainability and transparency, visual appearance is long since not everything. “Today’s consumers display high awareness for well-being and the environment,” confirmed LuAnn Williams, director of innovation at Innova Market Insights. It is no surprise to her that the consumers are placing more importance on the intelligent usage of resources, for instance in the form of bio-degradable and renewable packaging.
The desired goal is a closed loop across the value chain and some of the innovative packaging already achieves this. The packing manufacturers exhibiting in Cologne continuously strive to reduce the raw materials consumption down to a minimum.
Light-weight folding boxes are long since not the only prime examples for material-saving all-rounders. Foil solutions that reduce the material consumption down to a minimum are increasingly joining the ranks of the hitherto most successful team in terms of sustainability. Market experts are expecting the global demand for plastic pouch packaging in the food section to increase up to around 4.2 percent a year on average by 2025. This trend goes hand in hand with the strong demand of the consumers for products that are packed in a practical manner. Intuitive handling when opening and closing the packaging is just one aspect that the designers have to consider. From this point of view doypacks are one of the especially dynamic growth segments. They are resealable, compact, lightweight, non-breakable and make ideal to-go companions. Primarily snacks such as vegetable chips and nuts, but also filled chocolates and seasonal items are more and more frequently being packed in doypacks.
Biobased foils, the polymers of which are gained from sugar cane ethanol or milk proteins, reduce the usage of fossil raw materials. New customising technologies and intelligent packing material combinations are also being introduced. They enable doybacks made completely without the use of aluminium and which can be produced from a digitally imprintable paper compound.
In principal, also in the sweets industry the following applies: mass-produced goods are out, individuality is in. It is above all the millennials, who pick up products from the snacks and sweets shelves, which suit their personal lifestyle. The more individual the packing, the more likely the young consumers are to pick up the product at the point of sale and inspect it more closely. The exhibitors at the Cologne fair grounds have been designed to demonstrate the wealth of new developments in this section.
