Oct 16, 2025
PCR Content in PET Packaging: Essential Guide for Food Industry Success
At a Glance PCR content in PET packaging helps food businesses meet rising sustainability demands while keeping product quality and profitability intact. Regulations, consumer expectations, and supply chain limits make recycled content adoption both urgent and challenging. Success depends on five steps: Audit current packaging, set realistic PCR content targets, partner with certified suppliers, implement […]
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Oct 14, 2025
Flexible vs. Rigid Food Packaging: The Ultimate Showdown That’s Reshaping the Industry
At a Glance Flexible package options deliver space efficiency, lower costs, and sustainability benefits, but face challenges with protection, speed, and recycling. Rigid containers provide superior protection, speed, and product visibility, but take more storage space, add shipping costs, and carry higher environmental impacts. Smart brands mix both — flexible for efficiency and labeling, rigid […]
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Oct 09, 2025
The Food Business Guide to SKU Rationalization: Managing Your Packaging Inventory
At a Glance SKU rationalization helps food businesses cut warehouse chaos, free up cash flow, and streamline operations by eliminating underperforming packaging. The hidden costs add up: Stagnant inventory drains space, ties up money, and creates costly errors in daily operations. A proven framework is effective: Annual audits, ABC analysis, closet analogy assessments, and cross-functional […]
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Oct 07, 2025
Why Did the Price of PET Suddenly Increase in September 2025?
At a Glance Tariff on PET: A new U.S. tariff on imported PET and rPET resin took effect September 8, 2025, driving up plastic container costs. Industry impact: Some suppliers are notifying customers of higher prices right as the holiday season ramps up. Sustainability setback: Tariffs on rPET may discourage recycling by making recycled content […]
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Oct 01, 2025
A Rookie’s 7 Takeaways from IBIE 2025
At a Glance 2025 IBIE takeaways focus on viability, not flash: Leaders are tackling labor shortages, sustainability demands, consumer shifts, and thin margins. Sustainability pays off: Progress over perfection, with tools like shelf-life extension and waste heat recovery turning costs into real returns. Packaging and innovation are profit drivers: Smart packaging, AI forecasting, and predictive […]
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Sep 29, 2025
Why Packaging Deserves a Seat at the Product Launch Table
At a Glance Treating new product packaging as an afterthought leads to costly issues like product damage, poor shelf appeal, and missed sales. Packaging affects the full customer experience — from protection and usability to how the product is perceived on shelf. Involving packaging partners early results in better design, longer shelf life, and stronger […]
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Sep 24, 2025
What Message is Your Packaging Sending in the First 3 Seconds?
At a Glance Packaging drives consumer decisions in just three seconds, making it the critical first impression that can make or break a product. Poor packaging choices — cracks, weak seals, dull clarity, or mismatched branding — undermine quality and push shoppers toward competitors. Packaging impacts far more than sales: it affects shelf life, waste, […]
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Sep 22, 2025
Stuck Together: The Hidden Cost of De-Nesting Failures
At a Glance Poor de-nesting design causes chaos: Stuck containers lead to spills, wasted product, and workers cleaning instead of checking quality. De-nest lugs fix the issue: Smart lug patterns (A-B-C) prevent containers from locking but need upkeep. Teamwork matters: Manufacturers design solutions; processors maintain and communicate to keep lines running. The payoff: Smooth automation, […]
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Sep 17, 2025
Purchasing Directly from a Manufacturer vs. Through Distribution
At a Glance Direct purchasing from a manufacturer and buying through distribution models each have unique strengths — direct buying offers lower per-unit costs for large, consistent orders, while distributors provide flexibility, storage space, smaller order quantities, “just-in-time” delivery, safety stock, and broader product variety. Total cost matters more than unit price; storage, labor, and […]
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Sep 15, 2025
Are Recyclables Declining in Value? What Food Business Professionals Need to Know
At a Glance Recyclables declining in value is real. Cardboard, plastics, and metals are worth far less than a year ago. Multiple factors drive the drop. Lower demand, oversupply, and high energy costs all play a role. Food businesses feel the squeeze. Lower value from cardboard and plastics means higher waste costs. Smart operators adapt. […]
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