According to a survey conducted by the Glass Packaging Action Forum among selected food and beverage bottling companies, 2024 is set to be a highly innovative year. 42 per cent of survey participants want to launch more product innovations on the market than in previous years.
The Product Innovation in Glass (PiG) - the award from the Glass Packaging Action Forum, which is presented once a year as part of the Trend Day Glass industry event - has been in existence since 2014. A large number of companies with a total of several hundred products packaged in glass have competed for the highly coveted trophy in the form of a glass Möbius strip. „The number and type of applications for our now well-established industry award have always tended to reflect the economic situation and mood,“ explains Dorothée Richardt, Head of Press and Public Relations at the German Glass Industry Association and spokesperson for the Glass Packaging Action Forum. „In view of the current economic forecasts for 2024, it is all the more pleasing that According to the survey, the mood for innovation appears to be significantly stronger in 2024."
Product innovations have high to very high relevance
To find out more about the mood for innovation in the food and beverage packaging industry, the Glass Packaging Action Forum conducted a non-representative survey at the beginning of the year. Survey launched among all companies that have applied for product innovation in glass in the past. Eleven per cent of the companies surveyed stated that they had not launched any innovations in 2023. In contrast, 62 per cent of survey participants said they had launched between one and five product innovations on the market in the past year - despite numerous crises. Looking at the survey results, however, this appears to be less than in previous years: around 45 per cent of respondents have completely or partially suspended or postponed the development of new products or market launches in the past two years.
However, for almost 80 per cent of the responding companies, product innovations have a very high to high relevance. This is also the case for the Flensburger brand, as Head of Marketing Stephan Helms explains: „Innovations were, are and always will be highly relevant for a successful company like Flensburger Brauerei. The difference to the past is that it is becoming more complex and the speed is increasing. Industrialisation 4.0, artificial intelligence, cost pressure, sustainable business practices, changing consumer trends - the whole thing requires a constant spirit of innovation in all areas of a company.“ This shows that new products are still an integral part of the food industry.
New varieties, products and packaging
According to the majority of respondents, it takes around one year from the innovation idea to market launch. However, it can also be quicker, as some comments show. The survey also focussed on the diversity of innovation in companies. At 81 per cent, new varieties and variants account for the majority of product innovations, as shown by the Haus Rabenhorst products „Immunkraft“ and „Basen-Balance“, for example. Completely new products and brands occupy second place among the innovations with 58 per cent, followed by modified recipes with 42 per cent. For 33 per cent of respondents, the innovation consisted of new packaging or pack sizes. This is also the case for Cofi Loco with the mini-bottle for coffee beans with varied, colourful labels.
(Image: Cofi GmbH & Co. KG)
In the past, for example, Kühne's „Made for Meat“ barbecue sauces (winner 2016) were among the outstanding innovations of recent years thanks to their striking, unusual design. From the perspective of the entire PiG jury, the GLÜCK fruit spreads from Friedrich Göbber GmbH, which won an award in 2017 and also won the anniversary prize for product innovation in glass on the occasion of the PiG's tenth anniversary in 2023, are also making innovation history. The very high-quality, crystalline-looking jewellery bottle of Freixenet Prosecco D.O.C. (Henkell Freixenet) also set completely new accents in bottle design.
Tapping growth potential through innovation
Oliver Schwegmann, CEO of the Berentzen Group, also confirms that innovations play a major role in the food and beverage world and are an important growth driver. „The market for liqueurs in particular thrives on new impulses and a variety of flavours. The same applies to the very dynamic soft drinks market,“ he explains. „At Berentzen, we not only want to react to current market conditions, but also actively drive the markets forward and thus secure a competitive advantage. To achieve this, it is important that our Innovation pipeline always well filled is.“ According to CEO Schwegmann, the Berentzen Group is one of the top innovators on the German beverage market. „In our corporate strategy ‚Building Berentzen 2028‘, innovations are even more important for all our divisions and three top brands Mio Mio, Berentzen and Puschkin than they have been to date,“ says the Berentzen CEO.
Good mood for innovation in the bottling industry
While the post-corona years led to a decline in innovation for 30 per cent of the responding companies, the innovation rate has risen noticeably this year. 42 per cent of survey participants are planning more product innovations in 2024 compared to the previous year or previous years. Almost 70 per cent would describe the mood in their company this year as „innovative“. This is shown, among other things, by Katlenburger Kellerei with its „NanoFizz“, which it claims is Europe's first AI-generated ready-to-drink cocktail. Only 24 per cent are cautious and cautious when it comes to innovation in 2024.
„I am pleased that the food and beverage bottling industry is once again looking to the future with more optimism, despite what are certainly not easy conditions. Crises are bad for the innovation climate and block innovation activities. Economic uncertainty, coronavirus, raw material prices, energy costs and inflation have caused 45 per cent, or almost half of the company representatives who responded, to completely or partially suspend the development of product innovations in recent years. In view of the improved sentiment, we hope to see many exciting new products in 2024.“
Dorothée Richardt, Spokeswoman for the Glass Packaging Action Forum
Since 2014, numerous products from the food and beverage industry have been honoured with the Product Innovation in Glass award. The award winners submitted from innovative start-ups and traditional family-run companies to firmly established top dogs in the industry. The Glass Packaging Action Forum presents the award in three categories. In two of these, an independent jury of experts will determine the nominees and winners after the submission phase. The winner in the third category, „Public's Favourite“, will be chosen by the participating representatives from the bottling industry and the trade at the industry event Trendtag Glas. The free application for this year - even with several submissions per company - is open to all. until 31 May 2024 possible.
