Pack Expo 2024 live: ProAmpac COO compares and contrasts US and European markets

We catch up with Sachin Desai, president and COO of ProAmpac, at the ongoing Pack Expo 2024 trade show in Chicago, Illinois, US (November 3–6). Desai discusses how the US market compares to Europe and outlines the global flexible packaging company’s latest offerings and innovation.

“We’re finding that the push for sustainable packaging is equal in both regions. Our European customers move at the same speed and intensity as our US-based customers. The benefit for us is that it allows the solutions we develop, either in Europe or the US, to start crossing borders a lot easier,” Desai tells Packaging Insights.

“As we’re ideating and innovating in Europe, we’re able to bring that technology here into the US. Our sandwich bags and wraps are a great example of that.”

“Meanwhile, as we’re ideating and innovating in the US with our polymer or mono-mature technology, we’re able to deploy that out in Europe almost seamlessly because of that interplay and the aggressiveness of customers wanting to move that way.”

Comparing US and Europe

The president shares that there are a lot of similarities between the packaging markets in the US and Europe.

“What we’re finding right now and in the last 18 months is that the food markets began to plateau independent of what market you were in. While we saw the industrial, medical and pharmaceutical segments accelerate, the food markets plateaued. We saw a lot of that happening within Europe as well,” he details.

“One of the main differences is some of the turmoil that’s going on in Eastern Europe. It is just not something that we’re dealing with within the US. The geopolitical issues that can impact Europe are not having the same impacts here.” 

About 90% of ProAmpac’s Pack Expo 2024 booth features recyclable, sustainable packaging solutions.Desai highlights the weather patterns in the US as another major difference that impacts the market. “Those hurricanes are forming in the gulf. We are paying close attention to what’s happening there, not only around resident availability, but also to make sure that our customers stay in stock.” 

“Different supply chain dynamics are going on in Europe. There is a lot more evenness in supply that we’re able to control.”

Sustainability factors

According to Desai, despite the different legislative environments in the US and Europe, the demand for sustainable packaging is comparable. 

“That was not the case ten years ago, when these regions were acting independently. Some cared about sustainability, others did not. Now both regions are moving at the same speed when it comes to converting packaging from a conventional structure to a ‘value add’ or a ‘sustainable structure.’” 

When asked how the push for sustainability might affect these markets over the next five years, Desais says: “ProAmpac is positioned in an interesting spot right now, as 100% of everything that we supply has a sustainable alternative that’s commercially available today.”

“What we will see is that all the products which are not in that sustainable alternative category will move into that across the board. That’s probably going to be the biggest general theme.”

He hopes that after the US elections, the sustainability conversation within the country will re-accelerate and start following the same pattern it was before. 

ProAmpac’s latest innovation

According to Desai, despite the different legislative environments in the US and Europe, the demand for sustainable packaging is comparable.On the Pack Expo show floor this year, around 90% of ProAmpac’s booth features recyclable, sustainable packaging solutions. 

The company is showcasing its Moisture Protect MP–1000 product line, launched earlier this year in partnership with Aptar. The solution improves sustainability by absorbing moisture, negating the need for a desiccant package.

“Many of our ideas are born from our customers. They’ll come in and ask how we figure out a solution or how we get something to work and our teams go to work with their teams of packaging engineers,” continues Desai.

“The difficulty behind it is working out the material science. It’s getting the polymer scientists and the food scientists to work together and figure out what the next solution looks like at the molecular level.”

“We’re fortunate to have 80 PhDs and engineers on staff and seven university partnerships that we can leverage to help us ideate and then innovate solutions.”

With live reporting from Louis Gore Langton at Pack Expo in Chicago, US