Premium Beauty News - Let’s start straight away with the future. To you, as a major packaging player, what main trends have been impacting the industry?
Christophe Baudry - First, we need to take interest in megatrends, in particular major demographic changes. If you have a look at the UN and World Bank data, the number of inhabitants on our planet should reach 8.5 billion by 2030, and it will keep rising up to 11.2 billion in 2100. Above all, this population will get more and more urban. In 2050, 65% of the world’s population will live in cities. So, as far as we are concerned, the conclusion is quite simple: there will be a strong increase in the needs for packaged products.
In the meantime, an increasing number of consumers are worried about our planet. Together with global warming and air pollution, increased consumption, and plastic waste are the main preoccupations. Consumers have grown aware of the challenges to come and the need to use resources efficiently. And brand owners and retailers are already acting upon this. They have publicly undertaken to reduce and optimize the packaging they place on the market, and to use resources more efficiently, without compromising food safety, for example. Today, 96% of brand owners consider sustainable packaging important for their companies. [1]
On top of this strong demand for sustainability, consumers are eager to live real experiences. They want to be both surprised and seduced, not only in traditional stores, but also when they do their shopping online. All studies come to this conclusion: packaging quality is a guarantee for repeated purchases!
Premium Beauty News - What is your view on these trends?
Christophe Baudry - These trends create both challenges and opportunities for the whole industry (paperboard manufacturers, converters, printers, and brands), and many challenges need to be met: we must optimise packaging, use lighter weight, renewable materials and provide brands with optimum support so they can reach their objectives, seduce demanding consumers, optimize packaging to adapt it to new customer needs…
At Metsä Board, we work in close collaboration with our customers to fulfil these objectives, and we do think we have a great potential to meet tomorrow’s challenges. As a sustainability pioneer, with our lightweight paperboard, we have shown the advantages of innovative practices that take into account environmental issues and fight climate change.
Premium Beauty News - Does that mean Metsä Board’s "Better with Less" concept is actually inspired from these major trends?
Christophe Baudry - We decided to introduce our offering more clearly and logically, but we also did mean to highlight what has been guiding our innovation efforts for years: sustainability, product safety, and quality. To Metsä Board, the objective is to offer consumers a better experience, by working in collaboration with our customers to create modern, innovative, and well-thought-out packaging solutions that meet brands’ and tomorrow’s world’s requirements. Both with the help of our lightweight materials as well as the supporting expert services for example in design.
To clarify our offering, we have harmonized our product names, without changing their intrinsic quality: Carta Elega has become MetsäBoard Prime FBB, and Carta Solida is now called MetsäBoard Pro FBB Bright. All products are now find logically arranged under Metsä Board family.
Premium Beauty News - The next Luxe Pack Monaco show will be an opportunity for you to make people get familiar with your unified offering!
Christophe Baudry - Definitely. Our customers in different luxury segments will take advantage of the show to get to know our new branding. In addition, Luxe Pack Monaco will be an opportunity for us to put an emphasis on our latest innovation in design. With a smart design, we can create packaging that better address challenges related to sustainability and consumer seduction. That is actually what we mean with our “Better with Less” concept – better consumer experiences with less environmental impact.
As an example, we will showcase a new Skincare Box at the show. Like the previous one, it will be made according to the principle of glue-free boxes, but I can already tell you it will be even more innovative than the version presented last year!
