With increasing consumer demand for convenience comes greater demand for high performance standards and increased sustainability. The packaging industry is no stranger to these trends taking place with consumer products across the world. In fact, Smithers Pira released a market report in 2013 predicting that the flexible packaging industry will grow to $231 billion by 2018. While this is great news for flexible packaging, it presents a few challenges for the industry.
New materials and designs that help to meet consumer demand for more convenient, user-friendly food packaging—like complex multi-layer pouches, frozen food packaging ready to be reheated, and hot-fill packaging—are being introduced to the market and require unique adhesives that ensure product freshness, high performance and regulatory compliance. In response to packaging innovations, new testing capabilities and consumer demand for safe, high-quality products, ensuring compliance with governmental regulations from organizations like the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is more challenging for companies than ever before.