Packaging the Future: Innovation, Sustainability, and Insight

In a packaging industry that is increasingly driven by the imperative of sustainability, PZ Cussons, a brand-owner which operates in various regions around the world, across hygiene, baby and beauty categories, has committed to innovative solutions that minimise environmental impact while maintaining product quality and consumer satisfaction.

With brands ranging from Original Source and Sanctuary Spa in Europe to the Cussons Baby range in Asia, and who are setting ambitious goals to transform its packaging. Like many FMCG companies, it is dedicated to reducing its reliance on virgin plastic and ensuring all its packaging is recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2030.

Navigating the complexities of its diverse markets — from the UK to Asia and beyond — requires tailored solutions that address varying infrastructure and consumer expectations. While the pursuit of sustainability is a commendable and necessary objective, the path to achieving it is fraught with significant challenges. The task demands successful navigation of technological, financial, regulatory, and infrastructural obstacles, all while staying competitive in a rapidly evolving market. For Chris Allinson, Group Packaging Leader for PZ Cussons, this multifaceted challenge underscores the reality that transforming packaging practices is difficult.

But with a focus on innovation, consumer insight, and environmental responsibility, Chris leads PZ Cussons’ efforts to deliver both packaging innovations and the tools and processes required to innovate in this space and move towards a more sustainable future in the packaging sector.

“As well as having these big, ambitious sustainability goals, we also have some fantastic brands, who are looking to use packaging as a means to offer our consumers a better experience,” he told London Packaging Week.

A global challenge

Navigating the complexities of sustainability in a global market presents unique challenges and opportunities. The readiness of markets, the maturity, and capacities of their recycling infrastructure, as well as their consumers’ awareness of sustainability varies between the regions.

“Having business units that operate across all these different categories and markets, makes us quite a complex business,” he continued. “We’re very much a personal care business here in the UK and we have just brought our beauty business into our UKI business unit for ‘one face to the customer’, then we’ve got markets in Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, not just operating in personal care, but also Rafferty’s Garden, a successful baby food business in ANZ, that in the past has resulted in very different packaging partners, solutions, and ways of working.”

His new role as Group Packaging Leader addresses these disparities, focusing on developing a standardised approach to packaging across the PZ Cussons Group, seeking innovative packaging solutions and forging new partnerships that are tailored to meet different consumer and market needs, whilst continuing to deliver against their sustainability targets. Chris believes it’s crucial for a business like PZ Cussons to have such a role that enables their brands and business units to have a longer-term packaging strategy and innovation programme, and to build robust ways of working, internal and external networks and eco-systems that enable them to grow their brands and delight their consumers with better performing products.

“That starts with the basics,” he said. “in terms of how we do packaging here, but beyond that, it will help us to start to unlock new packaging materials and formats that respond to those consumer insights that we are identifying.”