Simon and myself had the privilege of attending the most recent FEFCO Conference in Berlin.  We came away inspired by several speakers and with some great quotes ringing in our ears.  We thought you might like to have our “take” on what was being said at the Conference.  Three themes featured overall – (1) Retail is seeing change like never before, (2) Internet retail is a game changer and (3) Corrugated has a huge opportunity now to stake it’s place in the future of retail.

Here are some quotes we heard during the Conference from CEOs and Business leaders:

“The uberization of Retailing is here, and has been happening since 2008”

“Grocery shopping via the Internet is THE retail opportunity of our lifetime”

“For both logistical and environmental reasons Plastic Carrier bags and Plastic RPCs are NOT the right solution for internet grocery retailing – we have an opportunity to offer the right solution in corrugated”

The overall feeling from the Conference was that Corrugated has moved away from being “LastMinuteDotCom” for Brand Owners and much more integrated into the product development process – anything that makes interaction and engagement with the consumer is the key.  The next 5 to 10 years heralds a period of seismic change and Corrugated is well positioned to continue to grow with the consumers of today and tomorrow.  The quote below supports that transition:

“We must move from a PRODUCT conversation to a VALUE conversation”

We will be covering in some depth many of these themes in our new report “The impact of the Internet and New Generation Retailing on the European Corrugated Market“.  If you would like to subscribe to our report, then please contact Neil on Neil@noa.uk.net