Andrew Woollard, chief executive of BoxWay Packaging Group, says the pandemic has highlighted the importance of board supply and flexibility.
The pandemic and the lockdown’s e-commerce boom began an unprecedented demand for packaging, creativity, and the rise of challenger brands. A third of all retail sales took place online in 2020 and 60% of Britain’s 18-24 year-olds chose to get their food delivered.
The packaging shortage got so drastic that our materials were dubbed ‘beige gold’ – which is quite an upgrade in status for recycled cardboard. Like any gold rush it’s both a huge challenge and an opportunity that we must seize with both hands.
Packaging gives the customer their first ‘feeling’ about the goods and therefore has an important psychological role. Online traders, especially challenger brands, are prioritising the aesthetics of the packaging and upping the ante to deliver a piece of branding to the doorstep. Packaging offers them a chance to be creative. It is our job as packaging manufacturers to innovate and evolve shoulder to shoulder with these entrepreneurial businesses, with new design concepts, and alternative immersive brand experiences that tells a story about the brand. ‘Challenger’ start up businesses are considering designs for the packaging that reveals the product in a ‘majestic’ way, delivering the Wow factor and embodies the essence of the brand.
Though great packaging can make an impact, that advantage can be instantly neutralised if lead times and availability get in the way. So we need to be more creative in how we solve these problems. We should be ‘thinking out the box’ in more ways than one. Packaging manufacturers have been grappling to deliver efficient lead times. It’s hard not to sympathise. The big players in our industry have tough choices to make. Some have multinational customers and many sheet plants are struggling with capacity. Some suppliers labour under the burdens of high demand and low return Amazon orders.
The good news is that independent sheet plants (like us) have more freedom for flexibility and adaptability and capacity to step up to the game and seize the ‘beige gold’ opportunity for the benefit of entrepreneurial businesses, new challenger brands and established businesses wanting to get more creative to attract new customers. It is our versatility and flexibility that makes the sheet planter strong. Watch this space.
Article published in Packaging News, July 2021 >
