A solution evolving with the market
In 2025, custom food packaging is no longer just a technical necessity: it’s a strategic asset for food brands. From small artisan producers to large-scale retailers, demand is growing for packaging solutions that combine functionality, sustainability, and visual impact.
The demand is clear: consumers demand packaging that is light, practical and environmentally transparent. Companies are responding, choosing suppliers capable of accompanying them on a path of continuous innovation.
European market grows, driven by innovation and regulation
The global market for custom food packaging continues to experience strong growth, with an expected annual growth rate of 4.5% through 2030. Europe plays a leading role, accounting for over 20% of the global market. Countries like Italy, Germany, and France are driving the shift towards more sustainable and high-performance packaging.
In Italy, demand is focused on resealable, recyclable packaging with strong visual appeal. Germany leads in monomaterial solutions and smart packaging technologies, often integrated with environmental QR codes to ensure transparency and traceability.
The 2025 consumer: informed, demanding and eco-conscious
Today, custom food packaging does more than just protect contents, it tells a story. It communicates brand values, product quality, and sustainability. According to a recent survey by Flexible Packaging Europe, European consumers appreciate flexible packaging for its preservation capabilities (46%), ease of use (45%), and light weight (42%).
Nearly half of European consumers perceive flexible packaging as recyclable. Even with notable variation across countries: 65% in Spain, 58% in Italy, 40% in Germany, and 38% in Poland.
PPWR: how EU regulations are transforming food packaging
Starting in 2025 the new European PPWR (Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation) will reshape the future of custom food packaging, enforcing stricter standards on recyclability, eco-friendly design, and waste reduction.
By 2030, all packaging must be fully recyclable and feature a standardized environmental label, clearly stating information on material composition, disposal methods, and reusability.
Flexible vs Rigid Packaging: flexibility wins
Compared to rigid packaging, flexible packaging offers clear advantages. It’s lighter, takes up less space and lowers transportation costs. More importantly, it’s highly customizable: thanks to digital printing that allows impactful designs even for small batches
Flexible packaging also consumes less raw material and is increasingly made from recyclable monomaterials, aligning with circular economy goals and eco-conscious consumer demands.
Large scale retail: why flexible packaging wins over shelves and buyers
In the Large Scale Distribution, custom food packaging proves to be a strategic choice. Its compactness, storage efficiency, and shelf appeal enhance logistics and boost product visibility.
The stand-up pouch and high-impact graphics elevate brand identity and drive consumer engagement.
From a functional point of view, flexible food packaging offers optimal protection from moisture, light and oxygen, contributing to product preservation and waste reduction. In addition, the ability to integrate interactive QR codes with branding messages and digital content turns each pack into a truly engaging touchpoint, enhancing the user experience and reinforcing environmental and brand communication.
Customised food packaging with digital printing is perfect for B2B allowing for product tests, limited editions or seasonal launches. Production time is reduced, as are costs, while the effectiveness of visual communication is increased through tailor-made solutions.
Seasonal promotions and limited editions: the power of custom food packaging
Multi-subject digital printing applied to flexible food packaging opens up exciting new opportunities for brands that want to stand out on the shelf. Thanks to this technology, it is possible to produce limited editions for festivities such as Christmas, Easter or Halloween, or thematic packs for local events, with customised graphics within the same production batch and reduced production times.
With custom food packaging, brands can:
- launch special editions for festivities;
- create gcollectible deisgns and tailored packaging;
- communicate interactively with environmental and narrative QR codes;
- develop localised campaigns with high visual impact.
The future of food packaging in 2025: Flexibility leads the way
In 2025, custom food packaging remains the preferred choice across the food industry due to its versatility, lightweight design, and sustainability. It’s widely adopted by producers of snacks, confectionery, organic foods, dry mixes, nuts, and superfoods, each leveraging its benefits in unique ways.
Snacks and sweets: convenience and smart servings
In the snack and sweet sector, flexible packaging is now standard.
Flexible packs offer smart portioning and resealability, perfect for on-the-go consumption and high-impact branding, thanks to the possibility to create custom packaging with high-impact designs.
Organic: consistency between product and packaging
In the organic and natural sector, Eco-friendly materials and minimalist design reflect product values, offering transparency on ingredients and sustainability.
Dry mixes: efficiency and long shelf life
For dry mixes (such as flours and instant mixes), flexible stand up packaging offers a dual functionality: maximum protection against moisture and oxygen and reduction of logistical space requirements by up to 40% compared to rigid formats. This compactness makes them perfect for large-scale distribution and increasingly in demand in the e-commerce channel.
Dried fruits and superfoods: freshness and transparency
The boom in nuts, seeds and superfoods pushes brands towards resealable packaging that preserves freshness and enhances the nutritional benefits of the product. Flexible packaging ensures excellent shelf visibility and, thanks to multi-subject digital printing, makes it easy to differentiate each reference, offering clear and effective communication.
Why Choose Flexie for Your Custom Food Packaging Needs
In 2025, custom flexible packaging is a strategic tool for food brands that want to stand out and stay compliant with EU regulations. Flexie leads this transformation by offering solutions that align with new sustainability standards.
Flexie is ready to lead the change in food packaging, offering options perfectly in line with new European requirements. We offer a full range of formats optimised to reduce over-packing, made from food contact safe materials and alternatives designed for a more sustainable end-of-life management of the pack such as recyclable mono-materials. Each pack is designed to maximise efficiency and minimise environmental impact, with a focus on intelligent pack customisation, facilitating the integration of environmental QR codes for transparent and interactive communication with the consumer.
Flexie is your trusted B2B partner for 100% Made in Italy custom food packaging, combining innovation, quality, and performance. Because while the content matters, the packaging makes the difference.
