BUSINESS NEEDS TO SEE 'GEN NEXT' DOES THINGS VERY DIFFERENTLY

Ariane van Mancius, a leader in food and packaging solutions, explains why tomorrow’s consumers must be your primary focus

Istarted Now|New|Next five years ago to offer truly independent packaging advice, combining design with technical expertise. This is an issue in the aviation sector as nowhere else because physical dimensions are so absolutely critical to a product’s onboard success and exert a real pressure on design limitations.

If both packaging design and manufacturing are done by the same company, that can be limiting too. I believe a strict division between procurement and innovation is key. Introducing that for KLM back in 2013 enabled it to optimise purchasing processes and also improve designs and specifications.

Similar issues apply in other sectors: retail, petrol, agriculture, foodservice and healthcare and cross-over is key. There is a great need for innovation, and it revolves around similar trends and issues. Watch words like plantbased, sustainability, local produce, waste reduction, changing consumer behaviour are everywhere.

From retail to aviation

Trends are always noticed first in retail where the pressure is on food brands to distinguish themselves. But these trends are then followed up in aviation. My team finds itself on the crossroads between marketing, design – both technically and aesthetically – and sustainability which has become a significant point of focus.

Also key is how 'instagrammable' the product is. 'Gen Next' posts everything online and passengers have become the curators of the brands, with social media influencing their behaviour.

Navigating the trends

My aim is to support companies trying to understand all this with insights and ideas on how to approach all this change. It is no good just knowing 'Gen Next' is interested in sustainability, brands must translate that into their packaging, branding and concept development. That requires both structural and graphic packaging designs for rotables as well as disposables. We are in a time of change. Business needs to see that this generation does things very differently be it in food, drink or hospitality. •