The recipe for innovation

In my previous blog I wrote about how metal can be a great packaging alternative for edible oils. There are many products and business models that could benefit from metal’s protective and sustainability properties, but how do you go about exploring different packaging options? Staying up to-date on packaging innovations or creating new solutions can be easier said than done.

Diversity is a key principle in the Innovation Sessions that we at Trivium run with existing and future customers. We deliberately put people from different areas of the business together with an equally diverse team from the customer. The group shares insights about market developments, demographics, shifting customer preferences, economic realities, technology, customer pain points, and sustainability. All of these areas impact the design and material of the packaging that brands use.

The diversity of people and topics at the table during a Trivium Innovation Session drives a spirited discussion with different inputs allowing us to see challenges from different perspectives. Talking is good, but a diverse team also allows for learning through listening if you’re brave enough to pay attention and allow someone to present a different angle. That different angle may in fact impact your product and your sales.

I like this part in the process because it reminds me of the segment in the movie Apollo 13 when the NASA engineers have to find a way to “fit a square peg in a round hole” with very limited resources. They simply have to keep their minds open, operate as a team, and work the problem.

The customer’s pain point may not be directly related to its packaging. For instance, if a customer needs to up its game when it comes to meeting corporate sustainability goals, there are many different areas they could focus on from reducing energy consumption in their operations to reducing their business travel. They may even think that they have pushed their packaging as far as they can, but our job is to push it further and help them reach their sustainability goals through better packaging.

Different closures can eliminate the need for mixed materials and stronger graphics directly on the packaging can eliminate the need for labels and stickers. Different packaging materials that still protect your product can reduce waste. This is how the right packaging choices can reduce your reliance on plastics, decrease your carbon footprint, and increase recyclability which may help you reach your corporate sustainability goals faster.

This phase of the Innovation Session can take some time as product, manufacturing, and customer testing need to be completed. We also need to make sure all the compliance boxes are checked and that an implementation plan is in place. Once all that is in place, we – Trivium and the customer – are ready to introduce the new solution to the market.