MARKET TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS IN PACKAGING, EMAP, BRUSSELS 2001

Françoise Pardos, Pardos Marketing, February 2006

Historical trends in packaging

The past trends of packaging and the increasing role of plastics are illustrated with the highlights of major innovations in the last 50 years, with several waves that brought plastics packaging to its present. With the increasing concentration of the packaging supply and demand, many innovations can have an almost immediate and high volume impacts, as fewer management decisions are needed.

Packaging, past and present, in Europe

Point zero 1945-1955

• Mostly bulk presentation
• Returnable containers for liquids

First wave 1956-1972

• Self service distribution
• Fragmented retail packages
• Bulk packaging of fresh products, meat, eggs, fresh produce
• Start of plastics packaging, PE films and bottles
• Paper and board substitution

Second wave 1973-1985

• Rise of consumerism
• Questioning on waste and energy
• Growth of glass with one way containers
• New plastics packages
• PVC bottles
• HDPE and OPP films
• Shrink and stretch films
• PS containers, Form Fill Seal, direct gazing

Third wave 1986-2001

• Major diversification and innovations
• Changes in living habits, the new customers
• PET bottles
• Barrier, high and medium, for film, sheet, bottles
• PP thin wall containers, molded and thermoformed
• Development of sleeves, for protection, presentation, collation wrap
• Further glass substitution
• Start of metal substitution, last plastics frontier (foils, caps and closures, cans)

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