FoodChain ID provides experts and services for Sustainable Packaging, PackSafe food safety standards, and compliance with the European Union (EU) Regulation 2023/1115, commonly known as EUDR. To reduce regulatory risk, subscribe to Regulatory Trends for early insights into emerging issues and trends.
By Gul Basak Kiroglu, Regulatory Trends Product Manager
The last time I visited Istanbul, I observed my family obsessed about organic and “clean” labeled food with sustainable packaging. My father spent an incredible amount of time in the grocery store reading labels one by one. My mother was checking the ingredients online, complaining about the lack of transparency on the packaged foods.
This year, due to the rising cost of living in Istanbul, I am seeing different food-related behaviors from my family ‒ except for my 24 year old brother. He is extremely well organized when shopping. He is incredibly knowledgeable when checking facts online, not buying anything with excessive packaging, and willing to spend more time, energy and money to find sustainable alternatives. My brother is emblematic of Generation Z (Gen Z) ‒ a demographic reshaping consumer expectations and supply chain priorities across the food industry.
Gen Z’s Sustainability Mindset is Reshaping the Food Sector
Gen Z is a generation that is accustomed to technology, information and sustainability demands. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z consumers grew up in an era where environmental issues received increasing global attention.
In fact, there is significant variation in willingness to pay for sustainable packaging by age, socioeconomic level and geography according to new research by McKinsey & Company. As a general rule, younger consumers (Gen Zers and millennials) and higher-income consumers have the highest-stated willingness to pay more for sustainable packaging. Overall, in all the European countries surveyed in this research, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the UK and France experienced increases in the willingness of consumers to pay “a lot more” since 2023.
Consumers Voice Their Expectations for Sustainable Packaging
So, what are these consumers looking for?
- “Packaging made of …% recycled plastic” YES!
- “Virgin Plastic” NO!
- “Compostable Plastic” YES!
- “Single Use” NO!
- “Reusable Packaging” YES!
According to the Global Risk Report 2023 published by the World Economic Forum, younger consumers want eco-friendly options to minimize the potential climate crisis. Among Gen Z consumers:
- 59% are very concerned about climate change.
- 64.5% believe that the climate crisis is causing significant damage to the environment.
EU Regulations Are Raising the Bar for Sustainable Compliance
European Union policy makers are responding to constituent expectations for environmental actions. The European Union’s Green Claims Directive is taking action to address greenwashing while protecting consumers and the environment. The regulation is intended to ensure that environmental labels and claims are credible and trustworthy, allowing consumers to make better-informed purchasing decisions. The Directive will also boost the competitiveness of businesses striving to increase the environmental sustainability of their products and activities.
The European Union’s Deforestation Free Products Regulation aims to bring down greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss and is part of a plan to tackle deforestation, first outlined in the 2019 Commission Communication on Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests and later confirmed by the European Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Farm to Fork Strategy.
The European Union’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), coming into force by 2025, introduces stringent measures to reduce packaging waste and promote sustainability where the key component is the shift from single-use to reusable and recyclable packaging with specific reuse targets.
Why Packaging Sustainability is Critical in 2025
From both a consumer demand and regulatory compliance perspective, Packaging Sustainability Services are indispensable. To remain competitive and act responsibly, food industry stakeholders should:
- Ensure compliance with evolving EU directives
- Re-engineer packaging portfolios for reuse and recyclability
- Communicate sustainability claims transparently and credibly