At interpack 2026, Craig Stobie of Domino — one of the company’s 2D code experts — explains why connected packaging and 2D codes are scaling now. The technology itself isn’t new: 1974 saw the first barcode scan on a pack of Wrigley’s chewing gum. What is new is the application, and the speed at which the wider ecosystem is now adopting it.
Not new technology — but new at scale
Several forces are accelerating the move at once. The circular economy is shifting brands from “take, make, throw away” toward refill, reduce and remove — Stobie cites labelless water in South Korea, where a QR code becomes the only way to identify the product. The digital economy turns the pack itself into a marketing channel, freeing up packaging real estate as information moves online. Add legislation such as the new wine regulation and the strong retailer pull around “QR powered by GS1”, and the trends start to reinforce one another.
The benefits, Stobie emphasizes, sit across the entire value chain. Manufacturers gain supply-chain and warehouse efficiency. Retailers unlock dynamic pricing and waste reduction — “2D codes have already cut food waste by more than 40 percent”. Consumers, including those with visual impairments, get immediate access to ingredient, allergen and recipe information. And recyclers benefit downstream. One change, many stakeholder wins.
Start with the why — and plan early
Stobie’s most consistent message: this is not an engineering project. “Don’t focus on the what — I want to print a 2D code. Don’t focus on the how — what does it mean for my lines. Start with the why. Who is it for, what benefits are you trying to unlock? Then work back.” That why determines the data elements that need to sit on pack and online, and only then the implementation.
Time is the other critical factor. Packaging changes can take five to seven years to flush through a major brand, which means companies targeting 2027 readiness should have started in 2021. Stobie also flips the usual pilot logic on its head: instead of trialling on the best line, start on the worst. “Eighty percent of your lines will take 20 percent of the time, but 20 percent of your lines will take 80 percent. Start with the hard lessons — you’ll learn fastest.” And a simple early indicator of project success: count the job titles in the first meeting. Engineering plus production alone is a warning sign. Legal, IT, packaging, logistics and warehouse management in the same room is the right setup.
From 100% inspection to mass serialization
For Domino, success isn’t measured in ISO grades inside the factory but at the checkout. “Will it scan, every time?” That requires close collaboration with material suppliers and scanner manufacturers, plus 100 percent machine inspection on the line. At the interpack booth in Hall 8C54, Domino shows two deployment-ready solutions: a sleeving system rolling out across hundreds of retail lines, and a closure coding system that hits plain closures with white ink, applies a unique QR code, verifies it — and does so up to 120,000 closures per hour. Fast enough for mass serialization down to batch-of-one, even for plain water bottles.
Looking five years out, Stobie sees packaging as the bridge between the physical and the digital world. Interoperability — through GS1 syntax and projects like Amazon Transparency — will enable late-stage customization, smaller batch runs and more agile supply chains. The reference point already exists: Stobie was one of the architects of the Falsified Medicines Directive code designed in 2002. Today, 16 billion products a year carry it. The same quiet but transformative trajectory, he believes, now awaits 2D codes in mainstream retail.
