Smart Packaging: the Future of Packaging is Already Present

The global packaging industry has witnessed several innovations in recent years, including smart, eco-friendly, as well as low-cost packaging. Among these, the first category has emerged as a crucial innovation that has made the entire industry more efficient. Such smart packaging technologies have several benefits, including the easy identification of products, streamlined categorization, as well as cutting down the time taken for processing returns. This blog examines the critical ways in which smart packaging is the industry’s future.

Contributions to a Variety of Economic Sectors

The food and pharmaceutical industries are seeing an increase in demand for smart packaging, owing primarily to demographic and economic changes. According to the Institute of Food Technologists, the global sales of packaged foods and drinks crossed $2.1 trillion in 2017 and might increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.2% through 2022. Therefore, the advantages of smart packaging, like reducing food waste, improving food safety, and managing supply chains, are expected to boost the need for this technology.

Smart packaging is a technique that uses the latest technologies such as QR codes, virtual reality, and augmented reality to link the physical packaging of products with the digital world. There are two major types of smart packaging: intelligent packaging and active packaging.

Intelligent packaging makes use of sensors and indicators to track the status of a product. In addition, such sensors can also provide vital information related to the ingredients used in a product, the temperature of the product, and its actual freshness levels.

On the other hand, active packaging makes use of materials that can interact with the product itself. In this case, certain chemicals or other substances can be released into the product via its package. Such a release is to protect the product from unfavorable surroundings, and this technique often ensures that the shelf life of the product involved can increase. Both these forms of packaging are becoming vastly popular in almost all major industries because they have the ability to make sure that the products remain useful for a long time.

For instance, the British company Novalia already prints keyboards on special paper containing a Bluetooth chip. A practical application for this was in a brochure for an Audi TT, which collaborates with the smartphone and thus provides a realistic impression of the cockpit.

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