Grounded Packaging 2023: A sustainable Future for Packaging

Ben Grant, CEO of Grounded Packaging gives DeliveryRank the opportunity to delve a little deeper into the core of their business. Grounded Packaging offers tailored solutions for various industries, addressing specific needs and challenges. With a wide range of sector-focused options, including Coffee, E-commerce, Dairy, Pet Food, Alternative Proteins, CBD and Cannabis, and more, Grounded Packaging ensures a perfect fit for every business. Their innovative tools, such as Blueprint and Scope, simplify sustainable packaging design and data-driven decision-making. Grounded Packaging is at the forefront of creating the next generation of circular materials to replace plastic, contributing to a more sustainable future.

Can you tell us more about Blueprint, your 3D packaging design and prototyping tool, and how it simplifies the sustainable packaging development process for businesses?

Blueprint is a solution to bring to life all the key considerations that go into making decisions around what sustainable packaging solutions are the best for your business. Initially this is focused towards flexible packaging solutions, which are our primary focus, and bringing all key info into a single digital interface. It allows us to guide our customers through the packaging development process and to highlight the key things on the way through.  

There is no silver bullet or single "right" solution for businesses. The right answer is always “it depends” and with Blueprint, we simplify this learning journey, helping you explore diverse material options, estimating costs, and assessing their viability for achieving your brand's desired outcome. While most businesses start with good intentions, with a primary focus in sustainability, it is also really important to consider the practical considerations like printing and branding as ultimately they play a pivotal role in decision-making.

Grounded Packaging seems to place a strong emphasis on sustainability. How does Blueprint help businesses access real-time circularity and carbon footprint data, and how does this information impact the decision-making process in packaging design?

With Blueprint, businesses gain a powerful tool to seamlessly navigate various packaging materials and formats. The platform allows you to compare material considerations side by side in a dynamic environment 

Our focus on sustainability data hinges on two critical aspects: carbon footprint and circularity. While carbon impact is widely acknowledged as being really important, circularity takes precedence in our approach, as it encompasses the three vital components of sustainability, specifically as it relates to packaging. 

The first of those looks at the proportion of renewable or recycled content in manufacturing. Secondly, it assesses the utility of the packaging – whether it's single-use or designed for multiple uses. And then finally it looks at end-of-life, whether something has been designed to work within a recycling or composting system and also the likelihood that it actually ends up there. Although this circularity calculation is not yet familiar to most, it encapsulates the core facets of sustainability in packaging.  

Traditionally, access to this kind of information has been limited, especially when it comes to accurate and comprehensive data on carbon impact. Blueprint is a first of its kind tool, integrating sustainability data seamlessly into the decision-making process.

Turning design vision into 3D packaging models is amazing. Could you share a success story where a business utilized Blueprint to create an innovative and sustainable packaging solution that made a significant positive impact?

Although only new we’ve had quite a number of cool customer success stories with the tool. A recent instance involved a coffee customer based in the Netherlands. Initially, they were poised to order non-recyclable, virgin plastic coffee bags. By guiding them through our tool, we showcased the potential for a far superior solution – an 80% recycled coffee bag with an equivalent cost and a 50% carbon reduction. 

This comprehensive process covered various factors including important design and sustainability considerations. Remarkably, the decision and transformation occurred swiftly, taking just two to three weeks from inception to a finalized solution. Such fast and favorable outcomes are rare without tools like Blueprint to bring all the different considerations to life. 

The critical thing is really bringing both the sustainability and functionality considerations into a single view, and demonstrating that even small adjustments can wield substantial impact, without affecting product quality and shelf-life.

With the rise of eco-conscious consumers, sustainable packaging has become a crucial aspect of branding and marketing. How does Grounded Packaging's marketing and communications tools assist businesses in promoting their sustainable efforts effectively?

Sustainability data is key to everything we do at Grounded. We've dedicated ourselves to addressing the widespread lack of understanding in this area and built our entire business framework and software solutions off the back of a sophisticated sustainability calculator. This tool equips businesses with a comprehensive dataset, enabling them to articulate their commitment to factors such as carbon reduction, reliance on fossil fuels, and the diverse facets of circularity. With this robust data, they can effectively communicate the narrative behind their choices. Moreover, we extend our support by creating content and campaigns, amplifying the impact and resonance of our customers' sustainability initiatives.

As the CEO of Grounded Packaging, what is your vision for the future of sustainable packaging design and how do you see Blueprint playing a pivotal role in shaping the industry's approach towards environmentally responsible packaging solutions?

What we're particularly keen to see is a shift in how businesses approach decision-making – a shift towards making decisions based on data not guesswork. Historically, even prominent players in large industries have tended to rely on intuition rather than solid frameworks. They metaphorically raise a finger to the wind, choosing a direction without any solid basis for that decision. 

If we can help catalyze a change to better, data driven, decision-making, that will lead to better sustainability outcomes in the short-term. Even incremental adjustments, when based on well-understood data, can ripple into significant positive impacts. 

In contrast, when you operate without proper information a sense of inertia can tend to prevail, hindering any meaningful progress. And that is the primary reason we’re seeing that the wider packaging market's transformation into sustainable materials and systems often lags behind its potential pace. The key, undoubtedly, is leveraging data to drive purposeful change.

If you would like to find out more about Grounded Packaging, visit https://groundedpackaging.co/