Key Trends at Pack Expo Las Vegas 2023

At over 1 million square feet, and with nearly 32,000 visitors, Pack Expo Las Vegas broke attendance records as the continent’s largest packaging and processing show. While the scope of the attendees and exhibitors represented the broad packaging landscape, Rabobank’s presence at the expo was directed toward food and beverage packaging and equipment, as well as periphery subsectors.

Rabobank identified some key themes and takeaways from the show, outlined below. These are not intended to be a comprehensive overview of the entire show, but rather, what our team found most intriguing and recurrent when talking with exhibitors and attendees.

Sustainability holds an intriguing and pervasive presence at Pack Expo. Packaging, often perceived as excessive, wasteful, and environmentally detrimental, stands at the crossroads of profound change, driven both by evolving consumer expectations and impending legislation. On one side, there are producers wholly committed to aligning their product portfolio with sustainable end-of-life options. Conversely, there are those who adopt a more cautious stance, observing how the landscape is unfolding, and contemplating changes that may be imposed by external forces.

Even the meaning of sustainability remains a subject of ongoing debate. It varies depending on a company’s focus, encompassing things like introducing new primary materials, reducing waste, energy consumption, or greenhouse gas emissions, improving operational efficiency. For some companies, sustainability is merely a future aspiration. Packaging producers’ approach often varies depending on material type. Materials like glass, metal, and paper, for instance, are relatively straightforward in their approach to end-of-life treatment, whereas plastic presents a more intricate scenario, with distinctions between rigid and flexible plastic due to the diverse materials used, their ability to be sorted correctly at a recycling plant, and the added complexity of offerings like bio-resin or recycled content.

This year’s emphasis on sustainability carried an uncertain tone. It continues to be the primary driver of innovation, but many primary packaging providers expressed concern about the current reality, including factors such as inadequate infrastructure, consumer habits, and supply chain challenges that hinder the immediate prospects of primary packaging being diverted from landfills. For instance, even if flexible packaging adheres to industry recyclability guidelines, it may not have a suitable recycling stream due to contamination. This raises questions for some packaging suppliers and brands: Is it worth sacrificing profit margins, shelf life, and efficiency for a sustainable package that still ends up in landfill?

Some companies are committed to meeting their 2025 sustainability goals, aiming to make 99% of their products “designed for recyclability” by that time. Others, when asked, highlight their mono-material offerings and offer post-consumer recycled content as an option, provided customers are willing to pay the premium. Legislation certainly has a role to play in shaping this industry further. Notably, Canada’s recent Single-Use Plastics Prohibition Regulations have already begun driving interest in sustainable alternatives.

This year, we observed significant progress in the fiber ecosystem, marked by a robust presence of suppliers across the value chain. Paper packaging producers, packaging converters, and additives and coatings manufacturers have come together to offer complementary products and services, broadening the range of paper packaging options. A striking diversity of fiber alternatives has surfaced for various packaging applications, from molded fiber trays, bottles, and pressed folding carton containers to paper air cushions and insulation.

Coatings and additives play a pivotal role in enabling fiber-based packaging to replace its plastic counterparts. They provide essential barrier properties like oxygen resistance, moisture protection, and grease resistance, as well as additional functionalities like being oven-safe or microwaveable, all while aligning with the end-of-life sustainability goals of recyclability or home/industrial compostability. Importantly, we’re witnessing a growing trend where fiber-based packaging products not only fulfill these requirements, but also exhibit cost efficiencies, particularly at scale.

Although, in some cases, fiber alternatives still come at a significantly higher cost than plastic packaging – sometimes as much as twice as expensive – we are witnessing a gradual narrowing of this cost gap. With the development of new fiber materials and the scaling of production, fiber packaging is slowly approaching cost parity with plastics. A noteworthy shift this year was the increased presence of local fiber-based producers, marking an exciting trend for North America. This shift paves the way for collaboration between fiber and coating suppliers, positioning fiber as a competitive contender against plastics across various product categories.

The end-of-line robotics and automation segment at the show left a profound impression, with presenters showcasing innovations that departed from the familiar landscape of previous years. The emergence of new, cutting-edge technologies in this area promises to usher in a transformative era for manufacturers.

End-of-line robotics have been on the rise since the pandemic created challenges within the labor force. They offer improved quality and efficiency. According to Deloitte’s 2023 Manufacturing Industry Outlook, 62% of surveyed manufacturers say they plan to implement robotics and automation this year, surpassing other intentions like cloud computing (32%), artificial intelligence (26%), and advanced materials (23%). The growth here is expectedly rooted in the improved efficiency that automation can deliver.

During a presentation at one of Pack Expo’s Innovation Stages, Melissa Fischer, Director of Automation Sales at Multivac, made the noteworthy observation that the packaging industry is lagging behind other industrial sectors when it comes to automation. Fischer highlighted that packaging automation is often not given enough priority, especially within the food sector. It’s much more widespread in other industries, she noted. However, a glance at the exhibition floor this year suggested that this situation could be changing, given the increasing number of machinery and automation solutions on display.

The current landscape is particularly intriguing due to the emergence of Industry 4.0 and the advancements in technology. These developments enable capabilities such as remote monitoring, machine learning, and predictive maintenance in the latest automation systems. While automation’s most significant return on investment within packaging likely lies in things like labeling, inspection, and highly repetitive tasks like palletizing, thanks to its speed, consistency, and reliability, it will be fascinating to observe how automation continues to enhance efficiency in the years ahead for the packaging industry.

Our team saw a lot at the three-day show, but there were also some notable gaps, including:

- Reusable packaging systems: Apart from returnable plastic crates and their alternatives, we only saw one reusable packaging company addressing the consumer market. The company supplies customized, direct-to-consumer packaging made of polypropylene, an alternative to single-use corrugated packaging. It also comes with a QR code to enhance the unboxing experience and a box return process based on geolocation. Other reusable packaging systems, for example, reusable coffee cups or shampoo bottles, which were often on display at previous shows, were largely absent.

- Glass and metal (beverage) packaging: There were two general material categories at this year’s Expo: plastic and fiber. Glass and metal packaging did not have a significant presence. Both industries may be preoccupied coming out of the pandemic with high demand and tight supply. They may also be under increasing pressure due to high energy volatility and their industries’ large carbon footprint.

- Small-scale innovation: Innovation in packaging often requires extensive R&D and collaboration with existing packaging producers. High barriers of entry have prevented small-scale innovation in packaging. FoodBytes, Rabobank’s innovation discovery platform, focuses on sustainable packaging among early-stage startups. FoodBytes emphasizes the need for more companies to produce sustainable materials at cost and scale, such as Cruz Foam’s Styrofoam replacements made of crustacean shells.

- Open sourcing and broad displaying of partnerships: Everyone in the packaging world agrees that collaboration is key to achieve global sustainable packaging goals. Yet partnerships between packaging and technology providers are more exclusive than inclusive. They are often seen as a secret weapon to enhance a company’s competitive advantage, instead of being used to benefit the whole industry.

In a world increasingly focused on environmental concerns, packaging sustainability stands out as both a driving force and a source of ongoing debate. This dynamic was evident at Pack Expo 2023, where many promising ideas were presented, but have not yet coalesced into a unified direction.

Our exploration of these key trends reveals the intricate and evolving nature of the packaging industry. Sustainability is not a one-size-fits-all concept, but a spectrum laden with complexities and nuance. The rapid progress in the fiber ecosystem offers promising solutions for a greener future. Meanwhile, the growing integration of robotics and automation suggests enhanced efficiency and quality in manufacturing. Finally, what remains unseen or unexplored in the ever-changing landscape of packaging is just as vital as the trends we observed.

These insights underscore the dynamic and multifaceted nature of the industry, urging us to remain vigilant, adaptive, and forward-thinking in our pursuit of a sustainable and innovative packaging future.