Food and Beverage Packaging October2010 : Page 6

Editor’sNote RECOVERY: WHAT’S IN THE PACKAGE? W hat if they gave a recovery and nobody came? That seems to be the case with the Amer-ican economy. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan re-search group that supposedly is the official arbiter of these matters, the longest recession in more than 50 years officially ended in June 2009. The bureau, of course, based its determination on various economic numbers, including total output and industrial production. Its outlook was echoed by economist Alan Beaulieu, who cheered an audience of PMMI members by telling them that the economy is in a mild but sus-tainable recovery. (A report on Beaulieu’s talk, always a highlight of PMMI’s annual meeting, is on page 22.) Numbers don’t lie, but they don’t always get listened to, either. To a consumer who lost her job, or who has to constantly worry about losing it, statistics like the latest quarterly trend about job creation probably mean less than nothing. Numbers don’t lie, but they don’t always get listened to, either. What should they mean to consumer goods packagers? That’s a trickier question, since it involves two broad consider-ations: the consumer side and the business/capital side. On the business side, every company’s circumstances are different, but some general principles apply. For one thing, the credit situation is much better. As Beaulieu told the PMMI meeting, “Bankers want to lend, and they are starting to lend again.” In addition, many economists predict a mild rise in inflation as the recovery gathers steam. This can only benefit companies that negotiate good rates for loans now and can pay them back in inflated dollars. The consumer side is even more complex. As anyone who has ever sold consumer products knows, perception usually trumps reality. Which recession-driven consumer behaviors will persist during re-covery? That’s the subject of this issue’s cover article, and it’s a toughie. Conventional wisdom is that when it comes to bad times, con-sumers have short memories. On the other hand, you have to be-lieve that some behaviors will stick. A consumer who discovered a perfectly good, or even better, private-label version of an product that’s important to her will likely stay with it. Packaging can reinforce those behaviors, through aspects as straightforward and eternal as looking great on the shelf, or as mod-ern as interacting with cell-phone apps. Bad times can mean good opportunities, and packaging can help. F&BP EDITORIAL PAN DEMETRAKAKES Editor pand@bnpmedia.com RICK LINGLE Executive Editor lingler@bnpmedia.com MICHAEL ESCOBEDO Senior Art Director BILL ANTKOWIAK Art Director ADVERTISING MIKE BARR Group Publisher (630) 499-7392 barrm@bnpmedia.com RANDY GREEN Publisher/Midwest Sales Manager (248) 244-6498 greenr@bnpmedia.com STEVE LIPUT East Coast/Southeast Sales Manager (847) 405-4112 liputs@bnpmedia.com CRAIG ZEHNTNER West Coast Sales Manager (818) 403-6379 wnjla@aol.com KRISTINA LORIO Inside Sales (249) 786-1579 loriok@bnpmedia.com ERHARDT EISENACHER International Sales +49-228-2499860 info@eisenacher-medien.de CATHERINE WYNN Senior Classified Sales Manager (847) 405-4010 wynnc@bnpmedia.com VINCE MICONI Advertising/Production Manager miconiv@bnpmedia.com AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT KOURTNEY BELL Audience Development Manager ERINN DEEGAN Multimedia Coordinator CAROLYN M. ALEXANDER Audience Audit Coordinator For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: Phone: (847) 763-9534 or Fax: (847) 763-9538 E-mail: FBP@halldata.com Web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com LIST RENTAL Postal contact: ROB LISKA at 800-223-2194 x.726 or robert.liska@edithroman.com Email contact: SHAWN KINGSTON at 800-409-4443 x.828 or shawn.kingston@epostdirect.com CORPORATE DIRECTORS TIMOTHY A. FAUSCH Publishing JOHN R. SCHREI Publishing RITA M. FOUMIA Corporate Strategy SCOTT KESLER Information Technology VINCENT M. MICONI Production LISA L. PAULUS Finance MICHAEL T. POWELL Creative NIKKI SMITH Directories MARLENE J. WITTHOFT Human Resources EMILY PATTEN Conferences & Events BETH A. SUROWIEC Clear Seas Research BNP MEDIA HELPS PEOPLE SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITH SUPERIOR INFORMATION For Volume Reprints Contact JILL L. DEVRIES Corporate Reprint Manager Phone: 248-224-1726 Fax: 248-244-3934 E-mail: devriesj@bnpmedia.com ’sNote RECOVERY: WHAT’S IN THE PACKAGE? W hat if they gave a recovery and nobody came? That seems to be the case with the Amer-ican economy. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan re-search group that supposedly is the official arbiter of these matters, the longest recession in more than 50 years officially ended in June 2009. The bureau, of course, based its determination on various economic numbers, including total output and industrial production. Its outlook was echoed by economist Alan Beaulieu, who cheered an audience of PMMI members by telling them that the economy is in a mild but sus-tainable recovery. (A report on Beaulieu’s talk, always a highlight of PMMI’s annual meeting, is on page 22.) Numbers don’t lie, but they don’t always get listened to, either. To a consumer who lost her job, or who has to constantly worry about losing it, statistics like the latest quarterly trend about job creation probably mean less than nothing. Numbers don’t lie, but they don’t always get listened to, either. What should they mean to consumer goods packagers? That’s a trickier question, since it involves two broad consider-ations: the consumer side and the business/capital side. On the business side, every company’s circumstances are different, but some general principles apply. For one thing, the credit situation is much better. As Beaulieu told the PMMI meeting, “Bankers want to lend, and they are starting to lend again.” In addition, many economists predict a mild rise in inflation as the recovery gathers steam. This can only benefit companies that negotiate good rates for loans now and can pay them back in inflated dollars. The consumer side is even more complex. As anyone who has ever sold consumer products knows, perception usually trumps reality. Which recession-driven consumer behaviors will persist during re-covery? That’s the subject of this issue’s cover article, and it’s a toughie. Conventional wisdom is that when it comes to bad times, con-sumers have short memories. On the other hand, you have to be-lieve that some behaviors will stick. A consumer who discovered a perfectly good, or even better, private-label version of an product that’s important to her will likely stay with it. Packaging can reinforce those behaviors, through aspects as straightforward and eternal as looking great on the shelf, or as mod-ern as interacting with cell-phone apps. Bad times can mean good opportunities, and packaging can help. F&BP EDITORIAL PAN DEMETRAKAKES Editor pand@bnpmedia.com RICK LINGLE Executive Editor lingler@bnpmedia.com MICHAEL ESCOBEDO Senior Art Director BILL ANTKOWIAK Art Director ADVERTISING MIKE BARR Group Publisher (630) 499-7392 barrm@bnpmedia.com RANDY GREEN Publisher/Midwest Sales Manager (248) 244-6498 greenr@bnpmedia.com STEVE LIPUT East Coast/Southeast Sales Manager (847) 405-4112 liputs@bnpmedia.com CRAIG ZEHNTNER West Coast Sales Manager (818) 403-6379 wnjla@aol.com KRISTINA LORIO Inside Sales (249) 786-1579 loriok@bnpmedia.com ERHARDT EISENACHER International Sales +49-228-2499860 info@eisenacher-medien.de CATHERINE WYNN Senior Classified Sales Manager (847) 405-4010 wynnc@bnpmedia.com VINCE MICONI Advertising/Production Manager miconiv@bnpmedia.com AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT KOURTNEY BELL Audience Development Manager ERINN DEEGAN Multimedia Coordinator CAROLYN M. ALEXANDER Audience Audit Coordinator For subscription information or service, please contact Customer Service at: Phone: (847) 763-9534 or Fax: (847) 763-9538 E-mail: FBP@halldata.com Web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com LIST RENTAL Postal contact: ROB LISKA at 800-223-2194 x.726 or robert.liska@edithroman.com Email contact: SHAWN KINGSTON at 800-409-4443 x.828 or shawn.kingston@epostdirect.com CORPORATE DIRECTORS TIMOTHY A. FAUSCH Publishing JOHN R. SCHREI Publishing RITA M. FOUMIA Corporate Strategy SCOTT KESLER Information Technology VINCENT M. MICONI Production LISA L. PAULUS Finance MICHAEL T. POWELL Creative NIKKI SMITH Directories MARLENE J. WITTHOFT Human Resources EMILY PATTEN Conferences & Events BETH A. SUROWIEC Clear Seas Research BNP MEDIA HELPS PEOPLE SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITH SUPERIOR INFORMATION For Volume Reprints Contact JILL L. DEVRIES Corporate Reprint Manager Phone: 248-224-1726 Fax: 248-244-3934 E-mail: devriesj@bnpmedia.com Editor Editor pand@bnpmedia.com 6 FOOD&BEVERAGE PACKAGING OCTOBER 2010 WWW. FOODANDBEVERAGEPA CKA GING .COM How to contact FOOD&BEVERAGEPACKAGING Mail: 155 Pfingsten Rd., Suite 205 Deerfield IL 60015 Phone: (847) 405-4000 Fax: (847) 405-4100 Web: www.foodandbeveragepackaging.com

Editor’s Note

RECOVERY: WHAT’S IN THE PACKAGE? What if they gave a recovery and nobody came? That seems to be the case with the American economy. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan research group that supposedly is the official arbiter of these matters, the longest recession in more than 50 years officially ended in June 2009. The bureau, of course, based its determination on various economic numbers, including total output and industrial production. Its outlook was echoed by economist Alan Beaulieu, who cheered an audience of PMMI members by telling them that the economy is in a mild but sustainable recovery. (A report on Beaulieu’s talk, always a highlight of PMMI’s annual meeting, is on page 22.) Numbers don’t lie, but they don’t always get listened to, either. To a consumer who lost her job, or who has to constantly worry about losing it, statistics like the latest quarterly trend about job creation probably mean less than nothing. What should they mean to consumer goods packagers? That’s a trickier question, since it involves two broad considerations: the consumer side and the business/capital side. On the business side, every company’s circumstances are different, but some general principles apply. For one thing, the credit situation is much better. As Beaulieu told the PMMI meeting, “Bankers want to lend, and they are starting to lend again.” In addition, many economists predict a mild rise in inflation as the recovery gathers steam. This can only benefit companies that negotiate good rates for loans now and can pay them back in inflated dollars. The consumer side is even more complex. As anyone who has ever sold consumer products knows, perception usually trumps reality. Which recession-driven consumer behaviors will persist during recovery? That’s the subject of this issue’s cover article, and it’s a toughie. Conventional wisdom is that when it comes to bad times, consumers have short memories. On the other hand, you have to believe that some behaviors will stick. A consumer who discovered a perfectly good, or even better, private-label version of an product that’s important to her will likely stay with it. Packaging can reinforce those behaviors, through aspects as straightforward and eternal as looking great on the shelf, or as modern as interacting with cell-phone apps. Bad times can mean good opportunities, and packaging can help.

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