Meeting every price point

In many markets, the COVID-19 crisis is turning into an economic crisis. How will this impact the food and beverage industry?

Ever since COVID-19 became a global pandemic, billions of people have had to rethink the way they live and work. Sustained action to limit the spread of infection has seen widespread states of lockdown, quarantine, isolation and social distancing. All of which are expected to have a long-lasting and scarring effect on economies around the world. In fact, the World Bank believes COVID-19 will plunge the global economy into its worst recession since World War II. In everyday terms, this means an increasing loss of business and unemployment, which ultimately means a marked drop in consumer buying power. This is understandably impacting how people choose and shop products, so brands and producers need to carefully consider whether their portfolios are aligned with the needs of post-corona consumers.  

Will economically challenging times ahead mean consumers will only be seeking affordable products and not premium? 

In the early days of COVID-19, a lot of people were stockpiling grocery basics and essentials, such as everyday packaged goods, toilet paper and cleaning products. This spike has settled but surveys show many consumers are cautious about returning to their old habits and routines. And with an increasing strain on budgets, many will be forced to continue basic or frugal shopping for some time. But it’s important to also remember that following a long period of monotony and restriction, with limited choices and a slowdown in launches, many consumers will actually be looking for new products and added-value experiences. After months of lockdown shopping, a lot of people are simply ready to splash out and treat themselves again.

So what can producers do to ensure they can respond and adapt their products to different consumer buying powers?

With COVID-19, the economic downturn, and more diverse consumer demographics, it’s clear that a one-size-fits-all approach to products won’t work today. It’s always been essential for producers to be able to match products to the spending power of the relevant target group. But in today’s climate, they need to be able to offer premium products at an affordable price. And cost-conscious producers looking to save margins need to be able to adapt product sizes to raw material prices or lower price points. All of this means that producers need maximum flexibility on their filling lines with the ability to quickly switch between different formats and volumes on the same machine. That’s why SIG delivers its customers the most agile and flexible filling system possible, enabling them to fill every kind of product from affordable to premium.

How exactly does this system enable producers to quickly switch between different formats and volumes?

This ability is possible thanks to our unique sleeve technology. Unlike other systems on the market, our carton packs are delivered as flat-packed sleeves with the long side already hygienically sealed. Each sleeve is individually shaped, sterilised and filled at a customer site with our filling machines. Once filled, each pack is ultrasonically sealed above the filling level instead of through the product.

This means it’s quick and easy to switch between different formats, volumes, designs and products. For instance, with our CFA 812 filling machine, you can fill family-size carton packs in our combibloc, combifit and combistyle formats with the same base dimensions, meaning you can make a product more or less premium in appearance and ingredients. Our CFA 1224 filling machine for single-serve carton packs even allows you to fill up to nine different volumes with a single system – and it only takes around two minutes to complete the changeover. Also, if you sell internationally, or make the same product under two different brands, you’ll be able to quickly change pack designs without stopping production.

Along with formats, volumes and designs, the flexibility of our machines extends to different types of products. So you can fill everything from non-carbonated soft drinks and liquid dairy products to smoothies, sauces and more – and with added particulates thanks to our drinksplus solution. You also get flexibility in terms of packaging materials as you can fill any of our packaging structures on the same line. All of which gives you unprecedented flexibility and precision in your product positioning to target markets.

Does this mean producers have to sacrifice speed for flexibility if they want to try and cater to every price point? 

In a nutshell – no. The unique aspect of SIG’s filling technology and system is that you can flexibly respond to the changing needs of consumers without ever sacrificing speed. Producers often have to compromise the speed of their output if they want to increase the flexibility of their line, which could result in having two separate filling lines – one for high flexibility and one for high speed. But with SIG, we guarantee both high flexibility and high speed on the same filling line. This means you can match products to the right consumer price point and the required volume fast and flexibly.   

Adapting to new legislation 

So far, in our Flexible for the Future series, we’ve seen how COVID-19 will increase the demand for healthy and sustainable products across a range of price points. But underlying this all will be an influx of new and challenging legislation. Don’t miss part five in our series when we’ll look at how producers can stay agile and adapt to changing regulation in the future.

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