NEW research from Industrial Physics has reportedly revealed the extent of innovation within the food and beverage packaging industry, and how this is impacted by internal operations.
Last year, Industrial Physics’ report found there is a desire for innovation, with 96% of packaging professionals in food and beverage expressing that new developments in packaging were important, and with 71% believing it was very important. However, this year’s data highlights that in reality, only 24% of organisations are currently taking an innovative approach.
The international survey of packaging professionals operating in the food and beverage packaging sector found that 22% of packaging professionals said their company does not usually follow up on the innovative ideas it comes up with, and 49% of respondents said too many teams are involved in the innovation process, which slows them down.
The report also found that 35% of packaging professionals using organic material said they didn’t feel they had the appropriate expertise to facilitate growth and innovation in their business.
Steve Davis, global director of product management at Industrial Physics, said, “Overall the mechanisms, the capacity and the direction aren’t quite there yet. Packaging companies understand the significant resource and investment required for the majority of innovation opportunities, therefore the decision to go ahead is not a quick or an easy one.
“Many companies within the packaging sector have been operating for decades and currently do not have the capacity to pursue innovative ideas whilst maintaining their regular manufacturing output which already satisfies a consistent demand. We’re noticing that companies who want to pursue innovation are running into internal barriers. In a period where budgets are extremely tight and layoffs are being made, unless a company can guarantee the ROI, there simply isn’t enough justification to assign resource to innovation.
“Our report highlights that pursuing opportunities in innovation is not as straightforward as it seems. With continued turbulence and both internal and external factors contributing to uncertainty, organisations need more support than ever to remain resilient and assess opportunities for innovation in packaging without compromising on the quality or safety of their products.
“With 41% saying their company is planning to take an innovative approach in the next three years, companies should start planning ahead and assessing their internal operations to make careful, considered decisions about how they’re going to pursue innovation, as these changes cannot be made overnight.”
