3 Critical Food Packaging Trends For 2025
From microbial detection breakthroughs to new certification mandates and recycling innovations, discover what’s driving the next wave of packaging — and how to stay ahead of the curve.
Food packaging is as dynamic as ever. These food packaging projections for 2025 are driven by consumer needs for food safety, safe packaging, and recycling clarity. Food safety will be conveyed more effectively through intelligent packaging; packaging stewardship certifications will safeguard customers (and brands); and recycle-ready packaging will assist consumers in recycling initiatives.
1. Intelligent Packaging Will Communicate Food Safety To Consumers
Packaging has a key role for consumers and retailers in communicating food safety to consumers. For the past 40 years, we have known that consumers do not clearly understand our date labeling system. Yet, changes have not added clarity. And, despite efforts by ReFED and other food waste leaders, the confusion and food waste (“when in doubt, throw it out”) continues.
The increase in food prices, laws against food waste (Vermont), an increase in pathogens, and the risk of poor FDA enforcement and/or improper food processing point to the need to implement intelligent packaging to detect microbial growth for consumers and retailers for key pathogens. This technology has various forms, verifying the food safety of the packaged food, allowing retailers to rotate stock, and guiding consumers on the safe use of food before and after opening the packaging. This technology has been widely available for more than 10 years and is poised for implementation. 2025 will be the year for brands to act in demonstrating their products’ food safety for consumers and retailers.
2. Certifications Will Help Our Industry Take Action To Prevent Chemicals Of Concern From Harming Consumers, Brand Image, And The Environment
In 2024, Plasticlist Report tested 100 everyday foods to find that 24 samples from 296 foods exceeded the acceptable thresholds established by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). However, fully 73% of the food had phthalates, and 22 products contained bisphenol A (BPA, CAS 80-05-7), which was much higher (up to 32,571%) than the guidelines set by EFSA, the European Food Safety Authority. The variance can be attributed to two reasons: outdated regulations and different regulations.
A new study funded by the EPA under its P2/Pollution Prevention grant program demonstrated how microplastics and PFAS from ingredient and consumer-facing packaging might enter the ecosystem when food waste is composted. Certification is relevant to the use of recycled paper and plastics. We do not have a complete chain of custody for recycled paper and plastics in the packaging sector. This means that we don’t always know what all of the paper fibers and plastic chains found in recycled paper and polymers were previously used for. Thus, both planned, and unintentional substitutions/commingling occur. Without clear and reasonable direction, packaging producers and brands will rely on certifications such as this to ensure food packaging is safe for consumers and the environment.
3. More Recycle-Ready Packaging And AI-Assisted Sorting Should Boost Recycling
Consumers will see even more of a shift to recycle-ready packaging, allowing them to more readily and easily separate recyclables and enable AI-assisted sorting. Examples include intuitive design and increasing font sizes on containers that require separation before placing them in a recycling bin.
Despite flexible packaging accounting for 21% of the US packaging market and 6% of the food packaging market, flexible packaging is not included in extended producer responsibility (EPR) initiatives in Oregon, Colorado, and at least five other states where implementations are pending. While this may be mainly because flexible packaging represents a reduction or minimization of packaging, needs assessment studies will show the need to include flexibles in US programs as they are in the 40-plus countries that have already implemented EPR. More effective separation practices will, in turn, pave the way for sortation to proceed with AI assistance.
To ensure food safety, a simple change in legislation will recognize that recycled content is best used for various other applications, including carpet, construction, and textiles, rather than food packaging.
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Source: Packaging Digest
