Report Reveals New Trends in Food Packaging

Women are 14% more likely than men to select environmentally-friendly packaging over non-"green," more-convenient alternatives, according to a recent study of 1,011 adults commissioned by the IP Solutions business of Thomson Reuters., New York, N.Y., USA. Men surveyed were more apt to select products packaged to provide greater convenience.

This finding is part of an intellectual property report released by Thomson Reuters, World IP Today: Convenience vs. Conscience – Food Packaging in the 21st Century, that explores the food packaging industry to identify its trends and drivers. The analysis assesses the state of food- and beverage-packaging innovation across a number of information sources, including patents, trademarks, scientific literature, and litigation data.

Key findings from the report include:

Convenience vs. Conscience – a tie. In the great "convenience versus conscience debate," people are fairly evenly split between environmental conscience and consumer convenience when it comes to making food- and beverage-packaging decisions. The industry is headed in the direction of providing both convenient packaging and conscientious protection of the environment, satisfying both needs rather than making it an either/or decision.
Green labeling "loophole." While patents mentioning biodegradability, recycling, and barrier films are increasing in frequency, a lack of standardization in what constitutes an environmentally-friendly package has resulted in ambiguity as to which packages really are "green." With organizations including the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Sustainable Packaging Coalition, and the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment currently working on standards, this issue will likely receive more attention in coming months.
Looking ahead – interactive packaging.: Beyond the "green" theme, other key areas of focus showing up in the Thomson Reuters analysis are innovations in tamper-evident packaging and interactive packages that use RFID technology to track food from source to destination.

The full report is available online.

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