Packaging Industry Trends to Watch in 2019

With a little more than a month gone in the new year, there are the typical musings regarding what the trends will be in 2019 for the packaging industry. This year, it appears that some will be very familiar, while others are just beginning to take shape for the years to come. Below we take a look at a few of possible trends likely to take center stage in 2019.

Digital Printing

One big change that appears to be happening now in the packaging industry seems to be a trend toward digital, or computer generated, printing. Though not new in the packaging industry, advances in digital printing are making the technology accessible to more and more packagers. Digital printing allows for both time-efficient and cost-efficient printing on a variety of materials, including labels and boxes. The ability to easily add, delete or simply change a message to the consumer helps in both shelf appeal and marketing as well. Expect more and more companies to move toward this technology in the near future.

Customizing and Personalizing Packages

Arguably stemming from the increased popularity of digital printing, customizing and personalizing packages for end users may also see an increase in popularity in the coming year. Shorter runs for special products or products with special messages has become an easier task to achieve due to advances in the packaging industry. Creating a bond with the user of a product can garner additional, and cheap, marketing via social media shares and recommendations. Personalizing products helps achieve that bond.

Sustainability and Recycling

Hardly a new trend, sustainability still pops up when discussing goals for the packaging industry, and rightly so. While hard to define, sustainability moves past just recyclable materials to focus on the packaging process as a whole. The goal is to create a circular process that remains clean, safe, healthy and renewable throughout the process. No easy task, companies and the industry as a whole will continue in 2019 to look for ways to cut waste and clean up processes.

Safe Cannabis Packaging

As states, and even countries, legalize marijuana use, the need for packaging machinery in this up and coming industry will rise considerably. And though legal, the substance being packaged can cause harm to certain individuals, especially children. Whether Child Proof Closures or some other tamper proof or child-resistance packaging will be used is yet to be seen. But 2019 will likely include some steps toward standardizing the packaging of this already popular product, if not more and more regulations on how it can be packaged, either at the state or federal level. New products bring new trends and cannabis products will likely bring change to the industry in the coming year.

Of course, other trends will emerge throughout the year, as will new projects, products and packages. The topics above are in no way an exhaustive list of the new trends, equipment, packages or products expected in 2019 in an industry that always has something new on the horizon. To read more about the trends mentioned above and others, check out the articles listed below, which agree with some above and list some additional trends as well.

Digital Printing at Packaging Digest

Packaging Industry Predictions: 6 Top Trends to Watch in 2019 by Danielle Ohl at Viking Masek

Industry Insights: Packaging Predictions for 2019 by John Kalkowski at Flexible Packaging