Is Digital Packaging now as important as Sustainable Packaging? | 27-03-2025 |

For more than a decade the agenda for packaging innovation has been dominated by the sustainable agenda. The familiar themes of reducing plastics use, paperization, biodegradability, recyclability and, latterly, reuse, have been played out across numerous stages around the world, involving Retailers, Brands, Packaging Material Makers, NGOs and, not least, Governments.

But more recently and certainly since COVID, the need to Digitize packaging has become a much more discussed and acted upon topic. Indeed It would appear that many Brand Owners are now prioritizing the need to authenticate, track and communicate about their products in both the B2B and B2C worlds. For sure the pandemic highlighted the need to improve Supply Chains and the provenance of products. But at the top of the list is communicating with customers in a more impactful and direct way. Connected Packaging is one of the few effective – and cost effective – options open to them.

What has brought about this change in their agendas? Well, for sure, part of it is due to the overblown claims and targets forced on packaging companies and Brands by lobby groups and legislators to use recycled material and replace plastics to achieve a ‘Circular Economy’ or ‘Carbon Neutrality’. Of late we have seen more and more of the major Brands rowing back on their sustainability targets as it has become clear that they are simply not realistic, affordable or achievable.

In addition, recently a flurry of surveys and reports from those same big Brands and some of the international Retail chains – bricks and mortar as well as online -  highlight their increasing concerns on loss prevention (shrinkage in America), counterfeiting and, for some, losing touch with their consumer base. Pioneers like Walmart have shown the value of mandated tracking for some goods. Are the others finally catching on?

The value of communication, along the supply chain through to the consumer, is shown to have a much greater impact on things like provenance, product waste or, goodness me, recycling and reuse. The ubiquitous QR code and RFID/NFC tag can act as a trigger to help people do the right thing with their used packs, but also tell them simply loads of interesting and useful stuff about the product, the Brand story or to offer special promotions and loyalty programs. And on the other side of the coin the Brands and Retailers can gather vast amounts of data to make their production, new product development and marketing more effective. Put simply, a direct link to provable ROI.

Consumers are really savvy these days. But there should be a healthy scepticism about the surveys which claim ‘75% of consumers would pay more for sustainable packaging’. Have you met many? Maybe in the upmarket eco-supermarkets and high end retail stores – but certainly not most of the folk who populate the everyday places to fill their fridges or cupboards. They DO want to know the product is not a ‘knock off’ and whether it is in good condition as well as nutritional information. But, for most, their interest in the sustainable aspect of packaging begins and ends where they put it in the correct recycle bin. Hence the reason why industry takes ownership of the science by developing digital technologies for sorting plastics, etc, such as HolyGrail 2.0. 

Helping people to understand the complex choices around sustainability,  as well as product provenance, authentication and condition requires a simple and effective method of communication. What better medium than a Connected Pack? This enabler is easy to access from a smartphone at the point of purchase and can continue to offer information well beyond that point. What information? Well that is almost entirely up to the Brand Owner, or if they want to add some in store value, the Retailer.

Digitized packaging is a revolution in way we can use and perceive this rather, taken for granted, part of a product’s journey. The last five years has seen  huge advances in the technologies associated with digitization: digital printers, digital twins and now the GS1 digital link to name only some. If the Retailers and Brand Owners seize the opportunity, it could revolutionize the sustainable agenda too!  

AIPIA CONGRESS ALERT: Digitisation, Data Use, Brand Empowerment and Supply Chain Efficiency are key themes at this year’s Congress on 24/25 June in Amsterdam. Learn more here:

ALL THIS AT AIPIA CONGRESS 2025 AMSTERDAM