News
PACK-NEWS number 128 – September/08
NEWSLETTER FROM THE BRAZILIAN PACKAGING
ASSOCIATION FOR THE FOREIGN MARKETS
“What´s going on at ABRE”
13 th Brazilian Packaging Congress pointed the future of innovation and consolidated
itself as the most important event in the national market
Sustainability continues to be a strategic issue for the packaging industry and for the products´ chain value. The 13 th Brazilian Packaging Congress, accomplished by ABRE on September 24 and 25 in São Paulo , was the perfect forum to discuss trends and strategies on this as well as to predict some future innovations. It was interesting to notice through the 10 market presentations, presented by international speakers with exclusivity to the event, that big corporations, like Nestlé and Unilever, share one thought: it is necessary to show the final consumer, in a didactic and responsible way, that the environment impact of a packaging is inferior, in most case, to the one caused by the use of a product.
In fact the problem is much more an education and conscious cause than the generation of waste. The industry should also be aware about the necessity of explaining and talking to the consumer about sustainability in a simple way, using examples related to their reality like global warming and climate changes. A research conducted by Packaging Strategies and presented in ABRE Congress proved that final consumer has a very superficial understanding about the meaning of sustainability. The industry, by its side, has already concluded that this limited understanding in terms of sustainability and environmental certificates has a strong influence in the purchasing decisions. The research, presented by David Luttenberger, Director of the North American entity, synthesizes the consumers´ reality as: if I do not understand, I won't be incentive. And if it is more expensive I definitely won't buy”.
In corporations like Unilever this concern with sustainability was absorbed by a huge mission called “vitality” as explains Steph Carter, UPEG Director of the company. “This means that we want to offer to our consumer more personal vitality – functional and emotional benefits of brands and products – with a higher social value and less environmental impact.”
To Anne Roulin, Global Head of Packaging and Design from Nestlé, an important tool in this “sustainable process” is the use of responsible design, a design that considers the reduction of source, the use of recycled materials or material from renewable sources, and the systematic use of ecodesign.
But from the business point of view, Brian Wagner, Partner and Director of North American PTIS (Packaging & Technology Integrated Solutions) says sustainability is just one of the elements of the big international strategies. “Globalization, population increase, resources restriction and sustainability are taking to regional opportunities. But strategic acquisitions are looking for a global supply”.
Other important speakers and its subjects in the Brazilian Packaging Congress were: Zhe Jin with the increase of packaging industry in China; Juliane Pestana from Nielsen Brasil with an overview of the non-alcoholic beverage market in Brazil; Arno Melchior global Packaging Director form Reckitt Benckiser with trends and developments for cleaning products in a global perspective; Jay Edwards GTQ Sustainability of Kraft Foods with sustainability in culture, economy and business; Toshio Arita from Packaging Strategies Japan with the state of art of packaging from the Japanese point of view; and Michael Maggio Vice President Global Strategic Design Operation of Johnson & Johnson with the design as a strategic advantage to packaging.
The ABRE Congress also counted with six special presentations and the sponsors of the event were the companies: Gold Sponsors – Braskem, Dow Brasil, DuPont, Henkel, Klabin, Quattor, Tetra Pak, Papirus, Indexflex, Ibema, Vitopel and Unilever. Silver Sponsors – MD Papéis, Petroquímica Triunfo, Alcan, Sig Combibloc, Inapel and Rigesa.
and see the pictures of ABRE Packaging Congress.
Industry and agribusiness in good shape
According to data from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) the industrial production in the first six months of the year registered an expansion, in the whole country, of about 6.3%. From the 14 states that registered increase, seven had numbers above the average. The focus was the state of Espírito Santo (16.1%), followed by Paraná (11.3%), Goiás (11.1%), São Paulo (9.8%), Pernambuco (7.9%), Amazonas (7.5%) and Minas Gerais (6.6%). In all these states the power comes from the consumption goods producers and commodities for export. The other results were: Pará (6.1%), Northwest and Bahia (both with 4.6%), Rio Grande do Sul (4.4%), Ceará (2.6%), Rio de Janeiro (2.3%) and Santa Catarina (1.3%).
The Brazilian agribusiness also registered good results in the period with an increase of 4.2%, almost the same registered in the same period last year (4.8%). This good performance, according to IBGE, is related to the increase in the harvested products, the increase in the domestic consumption due to the income expansions and favorable international scenery to agriculture with an increase in the volume of exports.
A new substract for pharma packaging
Suzano Papel e Celulose, leader in the Brazilian cardboard market and responsible for 50% of all the country exports of this product, is presenting to the market the new TP Pharma® a high performance triplex cardboard specially developed to be used by the pharmaceutical industry. Its thickness and rigidity are superior compared to the conventional materials, increasing the productivity per tone due to the use of lower grams and resulting in a lighter packaging with the same rigidity. It also has a more homogenous back as well as whiter that result in more uniform and better quality printings. It is available in 225, 250 and 275 grams per square meter and it has a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certificate.
Brand redesign for Nestlé
Pande Design Solutions, a packaging design agency member of ABRE´s Committee of Design, was responsible for the redesign of the traditional Nestlé brand for sweets, Moça Fiesta. The new brand reflects the consumption trends and consumers´ preferences through its new format. The agency also repositioned elements in the whole line which portfolio is composed by the four flavors. The sweets drawing were changed, as well as the label, and the metal can was adapted to an easy open plastic cap. All the changes were a result of a research done with consumers.
Launches in beverage
Founded in 1951 in the city of Itu, interior of São Paulo, Refrigerantes Convenção is now one of the important Brazilian beverage players. To reinforce and expand this position the company recently invested in the launch of two new products: the 350 ml PET bottle line for soft drinks (to celebrate Children days next October 12) and the Zero Con line that guarantees the same flavor of traditional soft drinks with no sugar addition. The children soft drink line brings in the bottle some cartoon characters in metalized labels and a functional, convenient and modern design. The Zero Con also comes in PET bottles of 2 liters.
Christmas has arrived!
The packaging companies are already offering their Christmas products. A good example comes from an ABRE´s member, Orsa Celulose, Papel e Embalagens, that created a special box for “Christmas baskets” in three different sizes – 5, 10 and 15 kilos. They are produced with paperboard 100% recycled and printed with a high definition flexography process. The new boxes also offer some space to the identification of brand and content and have a plastic handle that makes it easier the product handling and transportation. They are also available in different colors - blue, red and green.
International recognition
The Brazilian food company Sadia was once more recognized as an innovative company by the international judge team of the French Sial (International Food Exhibition). The products elected as the “most innovative in the world” were Hambúrguer Grelhado Sadia (grilled hamburger) and Margarinas Saborizadas Qualy Light (flavored margarines). They will be presented at the space “Trends & Innovation Observatory” in the Sial 2008, from October 19 to 23 in Paris. Sial is considered the world observatory of trends in the food sector and it happens every two years with more than 5 thousand exhibitors from about 100 countries.
Sadia products have been recognized by Sial many times. In 2002 and 2004 the company was selected by the margarines Qualy Fibras and Qualy Oliva. In 2006 it was the time of the Soya line and Nuggets de Salsicha.
Written by LILIAM BENZI
Phone +55 11 4412-0813
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