Shrink sleeves for food and beverage packaging

Consumers are consistently looking for new and different products to purchase. To meet this desire, companies are constantly trying to find new ways to differentiate their products from their competitors. Shrink sleeves are a perfect means of doing so. They represent an exciting new trend in the world of packaging and a growing opportunity for converters.

According to a recent Smithers Pira (2014), global sleeve label consumption to reach market value of $5.8 billion by 2019. Global consumption of stretch and shrink sleeve labels is forecast to grow at a calculated annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6% in the 2014-2019 period.

A shrink sleeve is a new type of label that is printed in rolls of plastic film. Gravure is often utilized to print sleeves, especially if the shrink sleeve necessitates the highest quality graphics and/or very long runs. Flexo and offset printing are also used for shorter runs. Unlike labels, sleeves allow decorations and printing to cover the whole container. Shrink sleeves adhere to a container through the application of heat: hot air, steam, and infrared light.

Behind the glamour of finished shrink label is its material. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the most cost effective shrink material and the easiest to control in the shrink process. Its high shrinkability and low cost make it an attractive option. However, other substrates with comparable or more attractive properties are emerging such us PET and oriented polystyrene (OPS).

Shrink sleeves provide many aesthetic and functional labeling and packaging advantages. Shrink sleeves provide high quality, 360 degree head-to-toe graphics on a series of complex packaging shapes and container geometries. The result maximizes on-shelf impact and appeal and contributes to differentiation in the marketplace. Shrink sleeves also offer tamper-evident capabilities by protecting lids and tops. Since the imprint of shrink sleeves is printed on the back of the label, shrink sleeves also protect against scratching and scuffing which often occur during product shipments. Shrink sleeves can also reduce inventory by eliminating the need to stock printed containers, and add shelf-life to the product through UV protection. Shrink Sleeves are easily removed in the recycling process resulting in less environmental impact.

This post was originally published at PackAdvisors

Stand-Up Pouches for Food and Beverage Packaging

Consumers’ nomadic life-styles and the growing number of single and senior households favor a trend toward single and small-portion packs. Flexible packaging, especially stand-up pouches constitute the ideal solution.

Stand-up pouches are becoming well established in flexible packaging market. According to a new report from PCI Films Consulting, the U.S. stand-up pouch market has seen dramatic growth over the past five years, increasing by 50 per cent in unit volume terms to approaching 17 billion units in 2013 – and will continue to grow by around seven per cent per annum to reach nearly 24 billion units in 2018, at least twice as fast as volume growth expected in the U.S. flexible packaging market as a whole, according to a new report.

Beverages and pet food are the largest end use categories, the report – by PCI Film Consulting – said, with each accounting for one-third of demand, closely followed by human food applications with around 30 per cent share. According to the report, future increases in volume are expected to come from a wide variety of end uses: frozen foods and fruit compotes, frozen spirits, cocktails, baby food, shredded and diced cheese, laundry and dishwashing refill packs and soups. “Other opportunities are only in the early stages of development but pouches used to pack motor oils, dietary meal solutions and possibly olive oil and fresh vegetables are forecast to grow in volume,” the report said.

The trend toward stand-up pouches packaging has been mainly driven by companies looking for ways to increase shelf appeal and differentiate their products from the competition and add consumer convenience. Stand-up pouches can be used as an additional marketing tool for brand owners looking to boost sales.

From an environmental point of view, pouches are more sustainable than traditional packaging formats (cans, boxes or rigid plastic container). They utilize much less material, improve the product to package ratio and eliminate over packaging and waste. Depending upon the application, pouches can weigh up to 95% less than rigid containers and take up less than 10% of the space typically used by rigid containers. In addition, pouches require much less landfill space than other containers.

In conclusion, stand-up pouches provide form, function and convenience. They are an innovative marketing approach to stimulate the sales of a stagnant brand or increase the acceptance and success of a new product introduction.

This post was originally published at PackAdvisors

Five Sales and Marketing Trends for 2015

Modern buyers are not waiting to be sold to, they’re proactively gathering information, soliciting peer recommendations, and making decisions about you and your competitors. Here are five trends I expect to see in Sales and Marketing in 2015.

1.     Social Selling: connecting with modern buyer

Social selling is about sales people building a strong personal brand. It is about understanding the role of content and how content can be used to tell a powerful and emotional story. And it is about growing your social connections. Finally, social selling will keep salespersons CONNECTED and ENGAGED with modern “digital and social” buyer: super-busy, super-mobile, super-connected and Hyper-informed.

2.     Content marketing: Marketing by attracting, not interrupting

The new age of marketing is about providing value and earning customer loyalty instead of simply pounding a message into consumers heads and hoping it will stick. Content marketing can play a vital role in filling the sales pipeline for a business, as it can drive leads and help convert prospects into customers. Data will play a larger role in content marketing; beyond just producing great content, brands need to reach and engage the right audience. The best content marketers will use data to personalize content according to who the consumer is, and tell a rich and seamless story (Storytelling) that carries across screens.

3.     Mobile: Increasing sales and marketing productivity

Mobile technology offers one of the most effective ways to support marketing-sales alignment and boost sales. Marketers can use mobile technology to provide sales reps with the right content at the right time, while increasing lead conversion and sales. Mobile sales-enablement tools are creating new and better ways for marketing to support sales reps in their customer interactions. Many teams are now looking toward mobile-ready sales-enablement technology to bridge the gap between Sales and Marketing; the adoption of such technology will be a defining aspect of successful businesses from now on (Marketing Profs, 2014).

4.     Automation: Saving time and money while boosting the bottom line

Marketing automation is a powerful tool with the ability to greatly increase your conversions. The use of a marketing automation platform can enable marketing and sales to work better together. Many marketing automation systems integrate with the sales systems, social media, search, support Web tracking and offer multi-channel marketing capabilities. These systems are continually evolving and helping both teams gain greater insights for their prospects and customers, especially about their digital behavior.

5.     H2H: Humanizing Your Brand with , Personalized message

There is no more B2B or B2C: It's Human to Human H2H. This is not about relationship selling, it's about talking to your customers and prospects in a way that they understand and expect. Versatile salespeople understand the need to be chameleon-like in their selling approach. High versatility sends a message to the customer that you are making an effort to do business in a way that is comfortable for them. It is essential that the salesperson gain the customer’s trust during the customer interaction. One way to develop trust is to help customers feel comfortable. Customers feel comfortable when you adapt to their needs. The result is comfortable customers – and comfortable customers buy, buy more, buy faster, and buy longer than uncomfortable customers.

I wish everyone happiness, good health and prosperity in 2015.

This post was originally published at Pulse