Food packaging-”paper” leads to the future

Environmentally friendly paper tableware bag inquire

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As one of the four major families of food packaging, paper packaging has shown its unique charm and value to consumers and producers because of its environmental protection and recyclability, and has become synonymous with safety, fashion and style. Beneath the appearance of Meimeida, what functions are hidden in the paper packaging? How will the future of paper packaging lead the food industry to stand out? Paper packaging has changed China’s food industry. Who will change next? Let us walk into the world of paper packaging together.

1. Food cannot be separated from packaging

First, let us make a reverse hypothesis: what will the food be like without packaging? The final result is conceivable, a large amount of food must rot in advance, a large amount of food was wasted, and the final destination of the rot and wasted food is the landfill.

Over the years, there have been many calls to reduce the use of packaging in the market. We are not opposed to reducing the transitional packaging, but we think we need to think from another aspect of packaging-food can only be guaranteed to be better after packaging does not deteriorate or its shelf life is extended. A lot of food is actually consumed instead of being wasted as garbage. According to statistics from relevant United Nations organizations, about 1.3 billion tons of food are wasted globally, equivalent to one-third of the total production, and there are still 815 million people who cannot eat food in the world, accounting for 11% of the global population, and the total amount of food wasted. Enough to feed the hungry population. Packaging is one of the important and effective solutions that can help reduce food waste.

2. The value of food packaging

As a food carrier-food packaging is an integral part of food. The value that food packaging brings to the food industry includes:

Value to consumers: Maslow’s theory divides consumer needs into five categories: physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, respect needs, and self-realization. The so-called “food is the heaven for the people”, and “food is the first”, people must first live-to eat and be full; secondly, to live healthy-safe and sanitary; and again to live better ——Nutritious, fresh, easy to carry, sensory, and cultural. Therefore, the most basic consumer demand for food packaging, or the most basic value of food packaging for consumers, is “safety, freshness, and convenience.”

Value brought to producers:

1. Image value display: As the saying goes, “a person lives a face, and a tree lives a skin”. In the past, “gold and jade is inside”, but in modern society, “gold and jade are outside.” According to DuPont’s law, 63% of consumers make purchases based on the packaging of goods. Good food requires good packaging and branded food, and more importantly, branded packaging. As a food carrier packaging, its function is not only to serve as a container and protect food, but also to provide consumers with convenience, ease of use, advertising, and publicity. The display of image value such as, guidance, etc.

2. Reduce packaging costs: For manufacturers, the factors that affect packaging costs include the cost of the selected packaging materials, the rationality of packaging design capacity, the maximum utilization of packaging space, and the transportation costs directly affected by the packaging weight.

3. Increase the added value of the product: After the food is packaged, it attracts consumers who are willing to purchase beyond the actual value of “food + packaging”. This is where the added value of packaging brings to food. Of course, the level of added value is closely related to the choice of packaging materials, packaging design, design creativity, and marketing techniques.

3. The “Four Big Families” of Food Packaging

According to statistics, the main food packaging materials on the market are paper, plastic, metal and glass, which can be called the “four big families”, of which paper packaging accounts for 39%, and there is a trend of accelerating growth. Food paper packaging materials Being able to become the first of the “Four Big Families” is favored by consumers and producers in the market, fully demonstrating the value status of paper packaging in food packaging.

Compared with metal packaging, paper packaging has a better shelf image and value display effect, and is lightweight.

According to research, it takes at least 5 years for the plastic lunch boxes on the market to degrade completely in the soil, and it takes at least 470 years for each plastic bag to degrade, but the average time for natural degradation of paper is only 3 to 6 Therefore, compared with plastic packaging, paper packaging is safer, healthier, and easier to degrade.

Fourth, the future trend of food paper packaging

Before discussing the future trend of food paper packaging, what are the “pain points” of the current food industry need to be analyzed?

From the perspective of consumers-anxiety: China, as a major dietary country, has seen frequent food safety issues over the years, seriously endangering the health and life of consumers. The public’s trust in food companies has repeatedly reduced, resulting in the continued existence of the food market. Great security trust crisis.

From the perspective of the producer-worry: concerns about food problems being complained by consumers and exposed by the media; concerns about being unqualified by the regulatory authorities and shutting down; concerns about being misunderstood by the market or being deliberately made rumors by competitors and lying guns; concerns about the emergence of the market Counterfeit and inferior food affect brand image and so on. Because every concern is a fatal blow and injury to food producers.

Therefore, from the value of food packaging, combined with the current “pain points” of the food industry, the future trends of food paper packaging mainly include:

Ø Green and environmental protection: “Green packaging” is also called “sustainable packaging”, in simple terms it is “recyclable, easily degradable, and lightweight”. Packaging also has a “life cycle”. We obtain raw materials from nature and use them to package products after design and processing. After the products are used, the packaging is processed. Green packaging is to reduce the use of raw materials as much as possible in this process, or as much as possible to reduce the damage to nature caused by processing. The good news is that more and more countries and regions in the world are restricting or banning the use of plastic products in different ways. The trend of “replacing plastic with paper” is becoming more and more obvious. “Declare war”, Shanghai’s more than 2,800 outdoor sellers, including Ele.me and Meituan, are experimenting with “paper instead of plastic”. In an era when everyone cares about the environment, the lack of environmental awareness of the brand will not only leave the impression of “irresponsibility”, but will inevitably lead to the direct loss of consumers. It can be said that the environmental protection of paper packaging is not only the responsibility of food production and food packaging entrepreneurs, but also the unchanging feelings of consumers.

Ø More security: The future of paper packaging security requires not only non-toxic and harmless paper packaging and paper packaging materials, but also requires paper packaging to avoid counterfeit and inferior food, and to further extend the shelf life of food. Improve the safety index of the food itself, from the safety of the product to the safety of the brand image. In recent years, with the rise of online shopping channels, there have been more opportunities for counterfeit and inferior food. Counterfeit and inferior food purchased online is a disaster, which seriously endangers the health and safety of consumers, and for brand manufacturers. , For the well-built brand image will also fail once.

Ø Packaging functionalization: At present, all kinds of paper packaging are developing in the direction of functional functionalization, including oil-proof, moisture-proof, high-barrier, active packaging…and modern smart technologies, such as QR code, blockchain anti-counterfeiting, etc. , How to combine with traditional paper packaging is also the development trend of paper packaging in the future. The functionalization of paper packaging is mainly achieved through the printing and packaging links or the paper packaging material itself, but from the perspective of cost and efficacy, it is more reliable to give its personalized functions from the source of the paper packaging material. For example: food insulation packaging paper, like a solar concentrator, converts light energy into heat energy. People only need to place the food packaged in the insulation paper in a place exposed to sunlight, and there will be continuous heat supply to protect the paper. The food has a certain degree of heat and fresh flavor, which provides convenience for people to eat. Another example: using vegetables or starch as the main raw material, adding other food additives, using a process similar to papermaking, and producing edible packaging.

Discuss-who will change next?

The 12 trillion market in the food industry continues to grow. How many brand companies are happy and worry about? There are more and more top-to-ceiling food subdivided industries and companies. Why can they stand out? The future competition will be the competition of resource integration in the industry chain. In the packaging chain, how can the entire upstream and downstream resources from the terminal food industry, to supporting printing and packaging and design companies, to food packaging material providers, be cooperative and shared? How to extend the needs of end consumers to packaging materials to achieve? Perhaps this is what we, as every operator in the food packaging chain, need to think about.

The future has come and conforms to the development trend of food paper packaging. At present, international liquid packaging giants, domestic local liquid packaging giants, internationally renowned western fast food chain enterprises, and domestic excellent food paper packaging companies have developed a series of liquid packaging and various functional packaging companies. Food paper packaging, these domestic and foreign food production and packaging companies taking advantage of the trend, are taking a high degree of social responsibility to bring consumers more safety, hygiene, environmental protection, convenience, nutrition, beauty…

Food paper packaging-the choice of the times! Solve the doubts for consumers and share the worries for producers!


Post time: Nov-02-2021

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