Packaging for the future: from words to deeds

Eco-packaging and reuse: the final conference of the ALL4PACK conference, held on Wednesday 20 September as part of Paris Retail Week, gave the floor to those working in the field to find out how packaging can be reinvented in practical terms.

Sustainable packaging isn’t just about words; it’s also (and above all) about action. The latest conference at the ALL4PACK EMBALLAGE PARIS conference, featuring Julien Bocquenet (CEO and founder of Coqli), Sara Issoux-Gay (Sales Director of Bocoloco) and Isabelle Boudard (Head of the CSR, Ethics and Foundation Department at Monoprix), is proof of this.

First of all, this is an opportunity to discover the unique offering of Coqli, a platform specialising in Web-to-Pack, which has set itself the goal of “breaking the commercial and production models of industrial cardboard manufacturers (mass production for a mass market) who are finding it very difficult to make the digital transition”. The platform enables packaging to be customised as far as possible – 100% Made in Vosges corrugated cardboard – and to achieve “reasoned and local” production, with on-demand manufacturing eliminating the risk of unnecessary stock.

Another innovative experiment highlighted at this latest conference was the “taste instructions” developed by Monoprix in partnership with Bocoloco. “Plastic and packaging have become an irritant for our consumers”, explained Isabelle Boudard, justifying the launch of these corners, where customers at Monoprix stores equipped with these facilities can already find “around fifty products” in returnable containers worth 20 or 50 centimes, which can be reused throughout the shop. “The idea was to keep things very clear, with a clearly identifiable corner and deposit amounts limited to two round figures to make things easier for customers”, explains Sara Issoux-Gay, Bocoloco’s Sales Director, who believes that the key to success lies in the variety of products on offer: “the more needs we tick off, the more consumers will be encouraged to go to our corner”. The initial results seem to be fairly conclusive: “We’re seeing around 50% of containers returned, which is huge and shows the relevance of the model”, reports Sara Issoux-Gay.

Monoprix, however, points out that there are still a number of cultural obstacles to the full adoption of the system. “You come home from work, you’ve got a rucksack, you’ve got to pick up the kids. If on top of that you have to carry jars, it’s not easy…” admits Isabelle Boudard. But the head of the CSR, Ethics and Foundation department at Monoprix has not given up hope of imposing this new use: “We’ve been very successful with the checkout bag, so there’s no reason why we can’t succeed with the deposit! We need to show that it’s easy, that it’s fun, and that can only be done with the right support, particularly in terms of marketing”. An experiment to follow…

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