Ep 267 9 Questions To Ask Your Packaging Supplier

I love that.

There's so much there that people really need to understand.

And I love the bringing in the materials because, you know, I've been in this industry for a long time and I've seen everything you're talking about, those materials change, the processes change.

there's always been a disconnect between the manufacturer's ability to make the change, the food manufacturer's ability to make the change, and then the packaging manufacturer's ability to offer the change.

So one of the things I've seen a lot of is a packaging manufacturer will come out with something really interesting and sustainable, but it takes one to two years for the food manufacturer to adjust their production.

And by that time, the packaging manufacturer isn't able to keep that item available because it hasn't been selling.

But with all of that said, I think one of the burning questions for me is actually defining...

What is sustainable packaging? You know, there's different levels of sustainability when we think about the lifestyle and material choices, and especially for early stage brands who are really looking at, you know, when you start, you're like, I don't know, do we put it in a pouch? Do we put it in a container? Do we put it in a box? Do we put it in a jar? And I would love to dig in a little bit to what that really means and the different levels that people could think about in relation to their packaging lifecycle.

Yeah, great question.

And I will put on my eco-enclosed hat in terms of our sustainability framework.

And I want to mention that as we are leaders within sustainable packaging.

I think there's a lot of education and miseducation that happens around the term sustainable packaging.

So my first step is for emerging brands, research and explore, find things that resonate with you.

I would start off with, let's make sure that your product is in the right size package.

If the product is using less material, it is going to be inherently more sustainable than over-engineered film that maybe your product doesn't need.

That would be the first step.

Now, most of the film, and we can even look behind you in your screen, is a three-layered film.

And a lot of that is needed for product shelf life.

Some things that I see like when in the frozen aisle is three layered films and ultimately a lot of that package doesn't need to be there because the freezer itself is providing barrier to the product.

So that's one thing.

Ask questions around, does my product need X, Y, and Z, even if that manufacturer is proposing it? I've seen a lot of instances where A film is recommended and ultimately doesn't need to be there.

And it's the job of my team to look critically at that film and say, well, have we looked at it from this angle? Do you really need all of this material within your package? Can we take something like a four and a half mil film down to a three and a half mil? Or can we take a 22 point board down to an 18 point board? All of those things ultimately are really good first level in terms of thinking about sustainable packaging.

The next thing, yeah.

I just would say, I love those questions, especially for early stage founders that might not know a lot about packaging, is to dig into every detail.

So when you get your quote or when the packaging manufacturer gives you info, dig into every detail, ask every question.