The keystone of the ALL4PACK Emballage Paris 2022 exhibition, the conference area brought together experts to discuss the major challenges facing each sector

This includes the representatives of brands and distributors, which goes hand in hand in the revolution. The conference highlighted the common approach of brands and retailers. They are both advocating in unison an interest in the transition of the packaging universe in order to promote committed consumption habits, in response to the new demands of their customers.

Brands and distributors

As CSR Director at Carrefour Bertrand Swiderski directly pointed out, brands and retailers are in turn partners, associates or competitors, but have common interests in the current transition towards sustainable development in the retail sector.

Faced with the challenges posed by certain materials, and in particular the plastics sector, everyone is on the same side. Brands, distributors, customers or suppliers… the fight is led with the same commitment to low environmental impact.

As Mr Swiderski reminded us, “the customer does not want to come home from shopping and have a pile of plastic to dispose of in the bin straight away. It’s the single-use plastic that they see as useless. They don’t want that anymore, and that’s a struggle.”

A consideration for packaging at the beginning of the customer journey, which pushes brands to eco-design, in order to favour a packaging-product pairing that can meet the new expectations of consumers.

The challenges

As CSR Director at Coca-Cola Arnaud Rolland reminded us, the common challenges of the brand and the retailer Carrefour are the same interests and expectations of consumers. He reminded us that “plastic is one of the irritants for today’s consumers”. It is therefore up to the two brands to lead a collective fight towards a sustainable product-packaging proposal. Meeting the new pro-environmental requirements remains the cornerstone of a revolution that the major retailers, both brands and distributors, must lead head on.

For Guillaume Lebert, Sustainability Europe Director at Procter & Gamble, “98% of consumers tell us that single-use plastic is a problem for them and 79% will tell us that they want to choose brands that are more environmentally friendly.

And beyond consumer demand, we are appealing here to the social responsibility of companies, and their ability to satisfy a demand in an obvious way, so that the consumer easily identifies the product as providing a response to his new eco-responsible consumption habits.

Brands and distributors, same direction

Carrefour, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble… The direction is the same for retailers as it is for the consumer of tomorrow: reuse and re-employment of packaging, with labelling that allows consumers to identify eco-responsible packaging, unlike traditional packaging.

The idea is that the customer will come back with his own net and his own packaging for bulk. That said, investment will be required for bulk, whose higher price is currently counterproductive. Not forgetting that the government has also expressed the wish to introduce standard packaging for the benefit of eco-organisations.

Finally, Guillaume Lebert from Procter & Gamble reminded us that packaging, in its eco-responsible impetus, has also given rise to a wealth of marketing opportunities in its wake.

“We will be able to use packaging as a communication vehicle. In other words, to place packaging at the centre of CSR and commercial strategies, so that it conveys the brand’s commitment to low environmental impact.

Drawing the consumer’s attention to the sustainability of packaging would then become an informative, commercial and ecological act.

This strategy is part of a common direction for brands and distributors as well as users: to be part of the revolution of a responsible and committed consumption.

If you wish to join us as an exhibitor or visitor during the next edition of ALL4PACK Emballage Paris and meet the experts during the conferences, don’t wait any longer : registration is open !

Watch the replay of the conference:

Discover the interview of the conference speaker: