Food Industry Executive/ There is ample evidence that the pandemic greatly affected the way consumers shop and how they think and feel about multiple aspects of their food, including the packaging.
Before 2020, consumers indicated a growing awareness of sustainability and recyclability in packaging but ranked it far behind issues such as cost and quality in terms of importance. However, under a looming public health threat, many consumers began to focus more on both personal and environmental health.
In 2022, it’s clear that attitudes are changing even more and more consumers are deliberately looking for packaging that looks sustainable or recyclable. In a highly competitive market, packaging manufacturers will need to consider the impact these consumer changes have on their organizations.
Is sustainability in food packaging the future?
While 54% of consumers think about sustainable packaging while shopping, considerable confusion remains about what sustainable and recyclable mean. The number of consumers who ranked sustainable packaging as of little to no importance has decreased.
While awareness of sustainable packaging increased among all age groups, younger consumers lead the way both in awareness and ranking it as an important factor to consider when purchasing products. And across all age groups, nine out of ten people believe strongly that school-aged children should learn how to recycle responsibly. As Gen Z and Millennial shoppers become a more significant portion of the consumer population, their preference for eco-friendly and sustainable choices across multiple industries is increasingly affecting packaging from creation to end of life, and will only increase in the future.
Misconceptions about what kinds of packaging are recyclable and how much packaging is making it to recycling facilities abound. 70% of all consumers say they think about sustainable packaging when making purchases, but most do not realize how little packaging actually gets recycled.
According to Trivium Packaging’s Buying Green Report, the majority of metal packaging does get recycled. But contrary to popular belief, most plastic and paper packaging is not or cannot be easily recycled or composted. Less than two in five people are confident in their ability to recycle effectively at home. Many municipalities lack the facilities or means to adequately capture and recycle a large bulk of plastic packaging, and consumers are beginning to understand and demand more accountability.
