In this article, Aura’s Director of Consulting, Gillian Garside-Wight, shares why we need to look to the future of packaging right here, right now.
If there’s one message I’ve been sharing with clients, partners, and peers this year, it’s this: we’re not planning for the next three years – we’re planning for the next three decades.
At Aura, as part of our latest proprietary research, we’ve been looking ahead to 2050, exploring how global shifts in technology, climate, consumer behaviour, and geopolitics could reshape the packaging landscape. On the back of the research, we’ve outlined four distinct scenarios for the future of packaging. Each one offers a different lens on what the world might look like and what global brands and retailers will need to do to keep up.
Let me give you a glimpse:
Accelerated Evolution extends today’s trends into tomorrow. It’s a world of steady progress, where sustainability and innovation continue to grow hand-in-hand.
The High-Tech Future imagines a world fully immersed in technology. Packaging becomes interactive, AI-driven factories customise designs in real-time, and digital overlays replace traditional labels, tailored to each consumer’s needs.
Recovering the Past reflects a pushback against tech saturation. Consumers crave simplicity, authenticity, and analogue experiences, reshaping packaging into something more tactile and human.
The Tough Alternative is the scenario no one wants but must prepare for. Resource scarcity dominates. Packaging must be resilient, locally sourced, and circular by design. In flood-prone regions, it protects medicines from humidity and heat. In disaster zones, it delivers essentials quickly and efficiently.
Planning for packaging sustainability isn’t just about the next few years, it’s about building strategies that will stand the test of time for decades. For global retailers and brands, this means evaluating packaging needs both at a high-level and in detail, ensuring resilience through major shifts in supply chains, rising sustainability expectations and regulation, as well as evolving consumer demands. To navigate this complex landscape, organisations will require ongoing guidance, robust support, and importantly, comprehensive data to inform every packaging decision, no matter what the future brings.
The journey to 2050 starts now. And at Aura, we’re here to help every step of the way.
Find out more about Aura Insights services and how they can help you to future proof your organisation today, for tomorrow.
