As we enter the back half of 2025 a key question we found ourselves asking is whether sustainable packaging is still driving conversations in our industry.
A valid question given this is our bread and butter, so let’s take a look into some of our experiences and conversations so far.
Our initial observations say no
2025 came in hot with the cost of living headlining many conversations and media outlets, and let’s be honest January is typically a time where the bank accounts aren’t looking to flash after Christmas and a summer break.
The general feeling and consensus we observed was times are still pretty tough, and whilst some indicators were coming down like interest rates and inflation from the previous year, it didn’t feel instant.
As Stuff News pointed out back in January 2025 some of the other contributors to increased living costs included, property rates, insurance, and rent.
RNZ also wrote an article outlining a similar feeling and opened with the below sentence;
“The Reserve Bank’s battle with inflation is over. So why doesn’t it feel like things have improved? “
So what did this “feeling” and “observation” mean for the packaging industry, and in particular sustainable packaging?
The long and short of it is this, it went from being a topic that lead meetings and conversations throughout 2023 and 2024, to being more of a “nice to have” but not necessarily a key driver for change.
So what replaced those so called “sustainable conversations”?
Cost savings!
The conversations were led by saving money on the current packaging. Typically this meant a race to the bottom or going out to Tender to get the best price.
Whilst this wasn’t surprising given the mood and feeling coming into 2025, what was surprising was an almost instant drop of sustainable strategies and the “parking” of projects and initiatives in this area.
What did we do about it?
Good question.
Luckily for us, our purpose is aligned to blending value and sustainable packaging.
We believe that sustainable packaging really starts at the design and understanding of its impact for a brand and the environment, hence our mission statement below.
Because for us, when we think of sustainable packaging we believe it also encompasses cost savings as a natural conversation.
For example, bulk ordering is a form of sustainability rather than weekly ordering, often when this is implemented there are savings to be had as well as eliminating multiple deliveries saving on carbon footprint, sounds simple right?
Another example is making sure the packaging is “fit-for-purpose”, what we mean by this is ensuring we understand the role of packaging for the application. No point, cutting cost of packaging, if it fails and worse creates harm or danger as a result.
Often the best form of cost saving in this example is getting the packaging right in the first place and avoiding costly returns and having to reprocess orders or worse dispose of orders to waste because the packaging wasn’t fit for purpose!
So does sustainable packaging still drive conversations in 2025?
Yes and no.
I think what we’ve experienced is a common reaction to the economy.
Yes, it is tough out there for many, and businesses need to review costs at all levels to ensure they can keep operating and making it through these tough period.
BUT what often is missed when the topic of “cost-savings” is leading conversations and meetings, is overlooking the idea that “sustainability” and more specifically “sustainable packaging” isn’t a cost-saving initiative at all.
If you want to learn how we are balancing cost, sustainability and innovation without comprising the cost or strategies, drop us line we’d love to see if we can assist and help.