Building ProAmpac’s Flexible Packaging Leadership in Europe

Adam: We were thrilled to have the opportunity to attend this year’s Packaging Innovation tradeshow to highlight ProAmpac’s European ProActive Sustainability® products and digital print capabilities. It was a huge success for our teams based upon the quantity and quality of sales opportunities generated from both existing customers and new prospects.  We had valuable discussions around collaboration in flexible packaging design, sustainable innovations, and format substitutions.

Adam: From a high level, our commercial focus is on how best we can help our customers achieve their supply continuity and sustainable packaging goals.  Our growth strategy is focused on several market opportunities:

• Think Global, Act Local  With the added capabilities brought on as a result of our 2021 acquisitions in both the UK and Ireland, we have expanded our portfolio of solutions with in-region operations, customer service and technical support.  Redundant capabilities and an expanded technology offering enhance ProAmpac’s ability to address our customers’ need for a local source with risk-mitigation offerings.  We are strengthening our product development resources, adding field tech support and working to get the ProAmpac brand known across the UK as the most innovating flexible packaging manufacturer in the region.
• Sustainable Packaging Solutions  Our UK, Ireland and Continental European customers have many challenges in meeting their sustainable packaging objectives.  By combining innovation and technical resources globally, we are offering an even wider array of more sustainable packaging solutions including mono-material recyclable films, compostable films, recyclable paper options, and products containing PCR.  We are already seeing success. For example, ProAmpac’s RecycAll paper-based Fresh Food-to-go sandwich wedge has already won multiple awards for sustainability.
• Continued Market Growth  We see growth opportunities within all of our served markets. We are excited to better serve our customers with an enhanced offering of sustainable solutions and expanded capabilities like digital print to become a European leader in flexible packaging.  

Vince: We are investing in sustainable, flexible packaging manufacturing, supply and distribution capabilities across the globe. In Europe, there are three commercial priority areas:

• Positioning ProAmpac as a leader in flexible packaging in Europe, by providing localized service and developing key technologies in flexible packaging that our customers will need both now and in the future.
• Continued investments in capacity, people, and sustainable product development.
• Globalizing previously regional technologies to offer more sustainable packaging offerings across continents, including our mono-material structures and paper-based packaging options, including our fresh food-to-go products.

Adam:  Consumer interest to going ‘green’ is a higher priority and the infrastructure to recycle is much more advanced in the UK. Our expertise in recyclable food packaging is an exciting complement to ProAmpac’s offering of innovative flexible packaging solutions. We’ve approached each customer individually with their requirements and that bespoke approach helps our teams have the most informed discussions that lead to additional business and collaboration opportunities. 

Vince:   Flexible packaging isn’t just a high-performance, high-impact packaging option. It’s a top priority for how we manage our businesses. We continually audit our processes, seeking refinements in the areas of facilities management, source reduction, recycling, and conservation to become more sustainable each year.  Our customers are focused on 5 areas:

• Recyclability:  ProAmpac has expanded our offering of mono-material packaging products suitable for recycling across regions in Europe.  In particular, our solutions have been proven to run “at-rate” on form-fill-seal equipment, reducing packer inefficiencies and costs.
• Recycled Content:  With the advent of the UK Plastics Packaging Tax (PPT), products with recycled content have come to the forefront.  We offer a variety of food-grade and industrial products that meet or exceed the minimum 30% recycled content targets mandated by the UK PPT.
• Renewable resources:  We offer flexible packaging that can be made with plant-based PE resin and/or paper. 
• Biodegradable/compostable:  For brands that want industrially compostable packaging, we offer products whose materials are compliant with standard EN13432.
• Carbon Footprint reduction:  Carbon footprint reduction is also key for many of our customers.  ProAmpac offers its ProActive CHART LCA tool to help our customers make informed, data-driven decisions when considering new packaging options.