The demands on beauty and personal care packaging have never been greater. It must be sustainable, functional and cost-effective, all while delivering a unique and memorable brand experience. Navigating this complex landscape requires a deep understanding of materials, design and consumer behavior.
To gain insight into the solutions and strategies meeting this moment, Global Cosmetic Industry spoke with Berlin Packaging Beauty. In this exclusive interview, we delve into the significant demand for sustainable options, the hurdles to implementation, and the innovative formats winning over brands and consumers alike.
Global Cosmetic Industry: How significant is the demand for sustainable packaging solutions (e.g., PCR content, refillable, mono-material, biodegradable)? What options are you developing or scaling up?
Berlin Packaging Beauty: Sustainability is very much driving our customers’ choice of packaging, and it will remain a priority in our business strategy for upcoming years. Indeed, we believe that the perfect packaging must help differentiate itself from the competition, and create an effective and memorable user experience.
The growing use of refillable solutions by different types of brands (from mass-market to prestige) is shaping a new consumer behavior, as people now understand the value and impact of refillable packaging.
Recently, we have launched a collection of packaging named POCKII, that perfectly blends aesthetic trends with functionality and sustainability needs. Indeed, it is characterized by a rounded shape with a domed bottom and accessories, creating a trendsetting shape that perfectly speaks the contemporary language of beauty.
This collection includes two different 50 ml jars where we focused on different objectives:
- Pockii 50 ml jar is designed to be simple, light, easy to use, and comes with a mono-piece cap in two versions: flat top or domed top to create a continuous shape.
- Pockii Refill 50 ml jar is designed to be refilled infinitely, thanks to the refill cap in PP that can be easily sealed and sold with its security PP cap, and combined with two different caps: domed top in PP or PP + aluminum, or domed in PP.
This refill jar completes our offering of refillable glass jars, which now includes:
- Luxe Refille Jars in 15-30-50 ml, also combinable with sifters,
- Miracle Refill, available in 50 ml, offering a totally different refill experience to the user,
- and our hero airless solution in a jar, the Airglass Jar Collection.
Our offer includes many collections designed by our innovation department Studio One Eleven, with jars in glass and plastic from 5 ml to 250 ml, able to cover any capacity and design needs a customer may require, ready for the market.
Global Cosmetic Industry: What are the biggest hurdles (cost, technical limitations, supply chain availability, consumer acceptance) in implementing more sustainable packaging options for beauty brands?
Berlin Packaging Beauty: We are expecting significant impacts from new packaging regulations, but at the same the need for more recyclable and reusable packaging solutions will likely accelerate Berlin Packaging’s innovation in sustainable designs and materials, all the while keeping an eye on operational costs related to compliance, material sourcing, and reporting obligations.
These regulations will drive us to enhance our efforts in testing the recyclability of our packaging, replacing non-compliant packaging with innovative solutions, reducing material usage without compromising on packaging performance and look-and-feel, and ensuring compliance with stricter material and labeling standards.
However, these changes also present opportunities for us to strengthen our position as leader in sustainable packaging solutions, identify emerging markets with high growth potential and explore new sectors that may benefit from our hybrid packaging supplier model - ultimately positioning our company as a global leader in innovative and sustainable packaging solutions across a broader range of industries and geographies.
Global Cosmetic Industry: Are you seeing increased interest in specific innovative formats, materials, or technologies (e.g., airless, unique applicators, smart packaging, new bio-plastics)?
Berlin Packaging Beauty: The market is asking for ready solutions but with distinctive personality. From our experience, we can say that brands are looking for “standards” to be personalized in a unique way and in a short time, giving importance to size impression, general shapes and the combination with accessories made of different materials like wood, aluminum, or bio-based plastics.
At the same time, we are seeing growing interest in customization and new tooling for components, challenging the creation of unique designs on functional components to create the next trendsetting product for the beauty community.
We are a one-stop packaging shop capable of bringing together the best elements of design and innovation, manufacturing services, and customer solutions for the packaging industry. When a client comes to us, our professionals carefully evaluate and manage each project with a comprehensive approach: product design and planning, prototyping, decoration, secondary packaging, and branding. All in-line with the latest market trends and consumers preferences. Our substantial capabilities, size, and independence from any specific material or production process grant us the freedom to continually target the best solutions starting for customers’ needs.
Global Cosmetic Industry: How do you balance aesthetic appeal and branding requirements with functionality, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability?
Berlin Packaging Beauty: Studio One Eleven, our in-house design and innovation department with offices in U.S. and EMEA, possesses priceless insights, boasting world-class expertise and deep market insight in order to consistently achieve effective outcomes for each of our customers by leveraging a business model that maximizes the entire product creation value chain.
Lightweight, PCR, and refillability will continue to lead our efforts in this product segment, while we will also continue to investigate new shapes that can anticipate the visual "language" of tomorrow’s market.
Decoration is another pillar of our R&D; we distinguish ourselves in the market thanks to our unique decoration capabilities, as we support brands in the creation of their product as a real one-stop shop.
