Raising a Toast
benefit from using cheap
and polluting materials like
plastic without considering
its end-of-life.
“Brands are also looking
toward alternatives; Waitrose,
for example, has adopted
TIPA compostable packaging
for its Duchy Banana range
and has announced plans to
make all plastic recyclable
or compostable by 2025.
Companies are dramatically
cutting the amount of plastic
packaging they use – and the
shift in consumers’ attitudes
are at the forefront of this
change.”
Regaining consumer
trust in an information-
rich age
The rapid pace of change
has in no small way been
driven by the accelerating
digitalisation of culture and
industry. With consumers
increasingly connected and
informed there is a growing
expectation of transparency
on the part of companies.
When consumers can have
almost any information
at their fingertips within
seconds, it makes the blind
spots more glaring.
Consumers
are unlikely
to believe
companies
have suddenly
given up on
making money,
but that does
not mean they
won’t accept
a company
making money
through positive
means.
That information-rich
atmosphere, in combination
with a hyperactive media
cycle, also makes it
increasingly challenging
for industry to maintain
consumer trust. Consumers
expect more and better of
their corporations and they
fi nd out more quickly when
said corporations don’t live
up to those expectations.
TrakRap CEO Martin Leeming
says: “Brands know that, in
order to be successful, they
need consumers to have
confi dence in their products;
those that successfully cut
through the messaging noise
and let consumers know,
in no uncertain terms, that
they are working with the
environment’s best interests
at heart, will reap the benefi ts
in the long term.”
Ultimately, the driving force
for any business is going
to be profi t. Many of them
have a responsibility to keep
shareholders happy, setting a
relentless drive for expansion
and an ever-increasing pile
of lucre. However, if this
can be combined with an
authentic push for more
ethical, sustainable, and
transparent practice, they are
likely to reap the rewards of
improved consumer loyalty.
Consider China’s drive
towards clean energy. There
should be almost no doubt
that a signifi cant motivation
for the initiative is for the
power (both political and
financial) reaped from
establishing itself ahead
of traditional rivals as the
world leader in renewable
power. It doesn’t change the
fact, however, that it is an
Drink Asia
28
ultimate environmental good
for the country to make that
transition. Consumers are
unlikely to believe companies
have suddenly given up on
making money, but that does
not mean they won’t accept
a company making money
through positive means.
Future-proofi ng for the
consumers to come
It is perhaps best to consider
the transformation being
enacted as one to embrace
from an entirely new
perspective. Although it
is commendable to make
smaller-scale environmental
efforts and add health-aligned
alternatives to product
ranges, the greatest rewards
will be reaped by those
able to rethink the entire
experience and approach
drinks afresh. Doing so will
cater not just to the current
emerging consumer sectors,
but help future-proof for the
consumers to come.
Laetitia Durafour, marketing
and communications director
at Crown Food Europe, says:
“Millennials will certainly
continue to leave their mark
on the way products and
services are consumed by
voting with their wallet.
H o w e v e r, w e a r e a l s o
keeping our eye on the next
generations of consumers in
anticipation that they could
be even more vocal about
their requirements. That
is why we encourage our
customers to think about
consumers across the
spectrum and either focuses
on the commonalities that
bond the generations, like
convenience or introduce
nuanced products that target
a select audience.”
March-April 2020
It is worth considering the
impact of younger consumers
not just in the short term but
also looking to the future.
The values of millennials are
likely to not just be passed on
but taken further. Culture is
experiencing a shift in speed,
no doubt driven in large part
by technology, and we are
witnessing an accelerated
emergence of ideology in the
young. As much as millennials
have driven attitudinal shifts
on the part of companies,
we are likely to see Gen
Z (who may currently be
anywhere from 23 to 9 years
old according to general
demographic delineations)
push them further, faster and
sooner.
“Gen Z holds particular
infl uence both fi nancially and
socially,” says Tashi van der
Waerden, senior strategist
at Echo. “It’s expected
they’ll become the largest
generation of consumers by
the year 2020. Moreover,
they are key influencers
within the home. We’ve
seen repeatedly through
qualitative research that it
is the youngest members
of the household who are
creating the sustainability
drive. Teaching the family
to recycle, reuse and make
better choices at the shelf.
The next generation has
high standards and brands
will need to move swiftly to
ethical manufacturing if they
want to stay in business.”
Source: https://www.drinks-
insight-network.com/
features/how-youth-culture-
is-transforming-the-drinks-
industry/