Mintel Reveals 5 Key Packaging Trends for 2018

Each year, Mintel, a market intelligence agency, reveals five global packaging trends for the new year. Cory Francer, editor-in-chief of packagePRINTING, Printing Impressions' sister publication, recently sat down with David Luttenberger, Mintel's global packaging director, to discuss the top packaging trends of 2018. To listen to the full discussion, watch the video below.

1. Packaged Planet - This trend explores consumers' views on sustainability issues. Luttenberger explains that 80% of consumers recognize that packaging can impact their food, as well as the environment and 50% of consumers report that they want to take action when it comes to sustainability issues. "However, there is a disconnect between those high percentiles of consumers, what they say they want to do and what their actions are," he says.
2. Repackage - There has been a growth of ecommerce in the digital world. Luttenberger stresses that brands still need to stay true to their message online and maintain the experience that a consumer has with the packaging when it arrives on their doorstep.
3. Clean Label 2.0 - Packaging designs can sometimes be cluttered and confusing, but now, Luttenberger says, the packaging industry is seeing the emergence of "essentialism," which is a design principle that gives consumers the information they need without "overwhelming them at the point of sale."
4. Sea Change - Luttenberger explains that the industry is in the third-generation of sustainable packaging and the ocean plastic issue is what is driving awareness for environmentally conscious packaging. "[It's about] what brands can do and what consumers can do and the interaction between the two, to prevent more packaging from becoming waste," he says. "It's not just about plastics in the ocean, but right now that's the catalyst. It's bringing a new level of awareness to consumers."
5. Renavigate - Luttenberger explains there is a rapid decline in the "center of the [grocery] store" as millennials turn away from the packaged goods lining the shelves in the middle of stores and turn more toward the periphery of the stores. He says that the industry is trending more toward contemporary, essentialist packaging to show younger consumers that there are healthy options among shelf-stable packaged goods.