Sustainable packaging? It depends on who you ask. For SMEs, unfortunately, it often remains a mirage, due to bureaucratic obstacles and excessive costs, amid an economic crisis that is leading the general public to reduce their purchases.
A good product is no longer enough. For a small brand (especially in food, cosmetics or nutraceuticals) the real stress test comes when it’s time to put that product into a pack that is attractive, safe, sustainable… and financially viable.
The problem has deep roots and affects not only sustainable and innovative packaging, but also more established solutions. Feedback collected at recent international trade shows tells a very consistent story: founders and marketing managers who “don’t even know which questions to ask” when it comes to packaging, and who run into increasingly complex economic and regulatory constraints.
This is not just about a short list of “top three struggles”: it affects the entire ecosystem of small and medium-sized brands.
MOQs and cash-flow under pressure
Packaging minimum order quantities are still often designed around the needs of big brands. The consequence? Small companies are forced to tie up cash in warehouses full of tubes, bottles or cartons they don’t really know if, and when, they will use.
For those working with pilot batches, seasonal lines or market tests, this usually means choosing between two imperfect options: giving up custom solutions and relying on standard packs, or accepting a high financial risk just to have packaging aligned with the brand positioning.
Missing in-house expertise
Many young companies don’t have an in-house packaging engineer or a dedicated team. Packaging decisions land on the already full desk of the founder or the marketing lead, who must navigate materials, barrier properties, product–pack compatibility, labelling requirements and line constraints.
The risk is twofold: over-engineered packs that are unnecessarily complex and expensive, or basic mistakes that lead to waste, complaints or – in pharma and cosmetics – even regulatory non-compliance.
Sustainability and compliance as a maze
While consumers and retailers demand more sustainable packaging, the regulatory landscape (from extended producer responsibility to recyclability and recycled content requirements) is becoming more complex every year.
For a small brand, it’s not easy to balance credible environmental claims, growing reporting duties and supply-chain traceability requests. Larger suppliers can guide their customers, but many smaller players still have to manage everything internally, with limited resources.
E-commerce adds another layer of complexity
For many micro-brands, the first contact with the market is online. But the pack that works on the shelf doesn’t necessarily work in e-commerce: it needs stronger secondary packaging, better protection against damage, convenient return options and at the same time, a reduction of material waste that ends up immediately in household bins.
The combination of booming e-commerce volumes and “green” expectations is forcing brands to rethink structures and materials from the ground up, often without robust data on damage in transit, returns and consumer perception.
The way forward: more than a budget issue
Promising solutions are emerging where suppliers and brands meet halfway:
- reduced MOQs enabled by digital printing and flexible production setups;
- platforms that combine standard structures with high levels of graphic customization;
- partners able to guide small brands in finding the right balance between cost, technical performance and sustainability.
For small companies, the message is clear: packaging can’t be the last item on the list anymore. It needs to be part of the strategic conversation from the very beginning, alongside marketing, R&D and finance.
For the packaging industry, the real challenge is to build service models, not just supply models: helping startups and emerging brands ask the right questions before offering the next “turnkey” solution.
