When stocked-out shelves became a new reality in 2020, the supply chain industry as a whole was greatly impacted. Consumer behaviors and habits shifted in ways that no one could have foreseen last year. Stay-at-home orders were put in place, which resulted in more home-cooked meals and canned items in higher demand. Aluminum shortages resulted in grocer limits being put in place and before you knew it, demand could not keep up. The same packaging shortages also occurred in the alcohol industry.
According to an article by Global Monitor, “Beverage packaging is expected to prove fairly resilient in 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19. This will boost the market growth in most alcoholic drinks packaging product areas, with beer packaging, in particular, seeing strong growth in the year in contrast to the decline seen in 2019.” This is another reason that we saw an increased demand for aluminum. The consumer’s buying habits are very much geared towards sustainability in packaging, which became more evident in 2020.
Glass packaging in the alcohol industry continued to struggle in the past years. Global Monitor stated “Much of the overall decline was due to declines within beer packaging. Beer packaging continued to dominate glass alcoholic drinks packaging, so the performance of this product area shaped the overall performance of glass packaging.” The 2021-2025 forecast for the alcoholic packaging industry is expected to see slow steady growth. However, the pandemic has brought about a level of volatility in the glass industry that has spurred demand for integrated planning solutions.
Now more than ever, the packaging industry is under pressure to increase supply to meet the latest consumer demands. In 2019 and 2020 Plantensive saw a significant upturn in demand to work with packaging companies to help resolve planning issues. Plantensive has had several engagements with Packaging companies and their customers to solve the most pressing problems. In the last year, our team has engaged with a specialty food canning company, a packaging manufacturer/ distributor managing B2B engagements, and a paper and cardboard packaging company. In each instance, Plantensive has brought a unique perspective to the issues as a result of our experience in the packaging industry and deep knowledge of advanced planning system needs.
Plantensive has worked with many of the Fortune 500 companies to help them address supply chain challenges and opportunities with tailored, practical, and forward-looking solutions. Contact us today, to start addressing your organization’s supply chain issues.
