Millennials reshaping packaging market

Retailers and brand owners who fully embrace the opportunities presented by sustainable packaging can achieve an increase in net sales of 2-4 percent, according to Stora Enso’s latest Viewpoint report.

Retailers and brand owners who fully embrace the opportunities presented by sustainable packaging can achieve an increase in net sales of 2-4 percent

Stora Enso’s latest Viewpoint report, entitled Future of packaging for the Millennials, reports that 59 percent of Millennials, the generation born between 1980 and 2000, consider packaging sustainability to be important throughout the entire value chain.

Millennials are said to be more likely to purchase eco-friendly products than older generations, with 80 percent of Millennials considering packaging important when making purchasing decisions and 85 percent considering packaging material part of the brand experience, compared to 71 percent of non-Millennials.

Further, 44 percent of Millennials are willing to pay a premium for products with sustainable packaging and they consider fiber-based packaging materials to be by far the most sustainable packaging material choice.

In real terms, Stora Enso said this can equate to a 2-4 percent increase in net sales, and will only become more important as Millennials become a more dominant group of consumers.

Hannu Alalauri, senior vice-president at Stora Enso Packaging Solutions, said: ‘Millennials are in many ways more demanding than previous generations of consumers and they expect products to be sustainable throughout the full value chain.

‘This is a strong message to use sustainable packaging from renewable sources such as wood fibers. These expectations present new and exciting opportunities for retailers and brand owners to increase sales and margins.’

Future of Packaging for the Millennials is the fourth edition in Stora Enso Packaging Solutions’ Viewpoint report series. Consumer data was derived from 347 survey respondents across 28 countries. Download the full Future of Packaging for the Millennials report here. It is available to dowload in Polish, Italian, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, German and Spanish, as well as English