Blockchain and the Future of Food and Drink Packaging

New collaboration with Avery Dennison and The Future Laboratory explores the implications of today’s trends on the future of label and packaging design

Oegstgeest, Netherlands — May 8, 2019 — Avery Dennison announces a new original content series, authored by future forecasters, The Future Laboratory. The monthly online column, based on proprietary research, provides insights on global drivers, macro and micro trends and their impact on consumers, brands, and the label and packaging industry.

In the first release, available today, the renowned forecaster considers blockchain as a way to make labelling data more robust, information transparency more accessible, and ultimately empower consumers about their purchasing decisions.

“Product labels have many functions – be eye-catching and attract attention on the shelf is one, but perhaps the most important function is to inform consumers. And yet in recent years, the data on labels has left many wanting. Almost half (48%) of consumers feel that they do not know enough about a product despite reading the label (source: Label Insight),” said researchers at The Future Laboratory.  

In the new release, The Future Laboratory shows how blockchain, as a distributed digital ledger, can offer transparency beyond the label. “...Unlike any other digital database, a blockchain entry cannot be changed once it is logged, giving it a high-trust value,” they said. Blockchain-enabled products offer designers a chance to create engaging, immersive packaging that encourages customers to delve beyond the label and into a brand new world of transparency.

“When combined with emerging technologies, a product’s labelling can empower consumers about their purchase decisions, offering new levels of transparency,” said Amy White, vice president, communications and brand, Avery Dennison. “As material science and technology pioneers being up to date on these insights is essential.”

“As futurenauts, forecasters, and analysts of tomorrow, we seek out those places, portals, people, and processes that allow us a glimpse at what could be when designers, scientists, packing creatives, and material specialists mix and merge talent with insight, the obvious, with the counterintuitive. The team behind M_use, one of those platforms that we visit regularly,  and Avery Dennison, sit within this category and culture,” said Martin Raymond and Christopher Sanderson, co-founders, The Future Laboratory.

The full story is available on M_use™, an Avery Dennison® inspiration platform.

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