Bain & Company has published a new report on luxury packaging in collaboration with Fedrigoni Group, projecting that within the next three years, more than 30% of all luxury packaging sales are expected to use sustainable solutions.
The findings draw on a survey of more than 500 executives across the luxury packaging value chain in Europe, the Middle East and Africa including designers, suppliers, converters, and brands. The report emphasizes how brands are applying the ‘four Rs’ (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Recover) in the luxury packaging space, substituting traditional materials with advanced papers, biodegradable polymers and mycelium-based solutions (an alternative harnessing the root structure of fungi).
Reducing packaging volume and weight to optimize transport efficiency and minimize trips is viewed as the most significant factor in improving the sustainability of the supply chain, with 43% of survey respondents ranking it as their top priority. 25% cited promoting reusable packaging to minimize waste and environmental impact, the second from top priority.
Using lightweight, durable materials to prevent damage during transport ranked third, at 17%, while adopting modular and stackable designs for better space and logistics management was selected by 10%. The integration of smart technologies into packaging for real-time tracking and condition monitoring was considered the least significant, with only 5% prioritizing it.
The report also states that brands are utilizing slimmer glass bottles and modular packaging designs to help cut emissions without compromising on elegance. In addition, the Digital Product Passport (DPP) is said to play an important part in the increase of sustainable solutions, aiming to offer full transparency into a product’s lifecycle.
Last year Tesco introduced home-recyclable paper packaging for its luxury dried pasta range, hoping to save over 10 million pieces of plastic a year. The change applied to 500g bags of orzo, casarecce, orecchiette, spaghetti bucatini, linguine, rigatoni, fusilli, gigli, conchiegli, and penne rigate in the Tesco Finest range.
More recently, Paul Hamilton, head of Wines & Spirits at Hunter Luxury, shared his thoughts on how trust and reliability play a key role in the luxury packaging space, especially when it comes to collaboration. He claimed that 2024 saw the market shrink by 2% according to Bain & Company, emphasizing that trust is vital for consumers as well as in the luxury packaging design process.
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