Millennials’ Taste Has an Impact on Food Packaging Trends

*By Bill Bregar, Plastics News *

Florence, Ky. — Millennials are a major force pushing food. They want natural. They want local. They want “real food.” Authentic experiences. And that is pushing trends in packaging, said an official of a Swiss maker of in-mold labeling, molds and automation for injection molding.

Millennials distrust overly processed, “corporate food,” said Taras Konowal, business development for North America for H. Müller Fabrique de Moules SA of Conthey, Switzerland.

They don’t like Kraft macaroni and cheese. Fish sticks? Nope.

“With the big brands, what’s in there, they’re afraid, is not real food,” Konowal said in a presentation during KraussMaffei Corp.’s open house May 19 in Florence. They sound off on social media. “As a brand, you need to be aware of who you are and how you are perceived.”

“With the big brands, what’s in there, they’re afraid, is not real food,” Konowal said in a presentation during KraussMaffei Corp.’s open house May 19 in Florence. They sound off on social media. “As a brand, you need to be aware of who you are and how you are perceived.”

And millennials — people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s — have major buying clout.

What does that mean for rigid packaging? Konowal said millennials favor more-regional suppliers. Millennials like to try different ethnic flavors. And they want “micro-regional” foods, Konawal said, pointing to the rise of microbreweries.

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