The Future of Packaging

Granby recently attended the Packaging Innovations & Empack Future of Packaging Show at Birmingham’s NEC. Victoria Pittman and Kayleigh Scott from Granby made the most of the two-day event by engaging with keynote speakers, suppliers, and colleagues.

For Granby, two speakers stood out during the event. Fraser Doherty, the founder of Beer52.com and Steve Lister, Sustainability Consultant to global brands and retailers.

Beer 52 founder, Fraser Doherty

Fraser Doherty is the founder of Beer52.com and SuperJam. He shared his inspiring tale of persistence and resilience in the face of retail challenges. His success in bringing Beer52, Wine52, and SuperJam to commercial success serves as a testament to the importance of resilience in the business world. Fraser was able to talk delegates through the evolution in packaging his business has taken. From minimising damage in transit and reducing packaging waste. Granby attendees were particularly taken by the continuous improvement Fraser has engineered into his processes. These mirror the experiences and achievements of Granby across all areas of their own business.

Steve Lister, Sustainability Consultant

Steve Lister, Sustainability Consultant to global brands and retailers, took delegates on a whistlestop tour of the key consumer, retail and brand, and supply chain trends in packaging, emphasising the impact of sustainability in each sector. The core message here was that a focus on sustainability has never been greater.

Consumer Sector Trends

In the consumer sector, Steve emphasised the significance of using sustainable and eco-friendly materials as well as end-of-life recyclability. He discussed the changing FCA rules on sustainability reporting in 2024, the so called greenwashing directive, and how these changes will have a significant impact on ESG reporting across all sectors of industry. With the need for clearer information around sustainable messaging and labelling, the FCA’s measures look to improve trust and transparency in sustainable investment products and reduce greenwashing. With a substantial amount of ESG-orientated assets being managed globally, these measures will play a crucial role in shaping the future of sustainable reporting.

Retail & Brand Trends

In retail and brand trends, Steve emphasised a focus on sustainable materials. Key to this is the importance of businesses making a real effort at understanding the reasons behind sustainability decisions. The issue of recyclability was discussed, with a specific mention of the upcoming requirement for businesses to provide detailed information on their recycling practices to avoid heavy penalties. This includes specifying not just that a business is recycling end of life materials to energy but being specific about how much material is being recycled to energy. These trends reflect a growing emphasis on transparency and accountability in the industry, pushing businesses to prioritise sustainable practices in all areas of their operations.

Supply Chain Trends

In the supply chain arena, Steve identified three key trends that are shaping the industry. The first trend is sustainable design, which involves designing packaging with its end-of-life use in mind. Steve reports that 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined at the design stage. The second trend recognised is Carbon Footprint reduction will be mandated in contracts. This will start from the end of March 2024. Lastly, a focus on delivering sustainability transparency across as much of the supply chain as possible. These trends highlight the growing importance of sustainability and environmental considerations within not just 3PL but every business with a supply chain.

Sustainability Summary

Steve identified 7 key areas where businesses can impact sustainability.

Packaging design

Alternative and sustainable materials

Packaging and print manufacturing

Outer packaging

Shipping and logistics

Circularity and end of use recycling

Sustainability from supply chain partners – perhaps the most difficult to control but because of that, maybe the most important to address

Granby Response

Granby are proud to be ahead of the curve on all three supply chain trends. In sustainable design, Granby have been collaborating with supply chain partners on this for quite some time. There is a real challenge around Carbon Footprint reduction within the supply chain. This is that not all carriers are as far advanced as the industry would like. However, Granby will only work with couriers who embrace this policy. And as far as transparency within the supply chain goes, Granby look to only use supply chain partners who are transparent in their use of materials (inks, papers, adhesives etc.)

Victoria emphasised the importance of collaboration in achieving sustainable success, highlighting the need for partnerships with clients and suppliers. “For us, the key take out is that collaboration is key to sustainable success. No business is able to do this on their own. We all need to do it hand in hand with partners, clients, and suppliers.”

BCMPA Dinner

Everyone enjoyed the BCMPA dinner. A magician was on hand to entertain at tables and a great night was had by all. The BCMPA also showed their appreciation for the life of the late Rodney Steel. Rodney led the BCMPA over the past two decades until his retirement in June last year. He was a remarkable individual who made many significant contributions to the industry. Rodney was a great lover of jazz, tribute was paid with a jazz performance in his honour.

Rest of the Show

Victoria and Kayleigh were also able to spend time catching up and connecting with suppliers and colleagues. Here we see Kayleigh catching up with our client, Martin Dev from Newcode.

Overall, Granby’s experience at the show was informative and productive, leading to valuable insights for the future of packaging.