Bobst weathers storms and readies for new market conditions

Last year was a strong period for packaging technologies giant Bobst following the pandemic, according to the company’s chief executive.

Speaking at last month’s annual press conference, Jean-Pascal Bobst said the various types of materials that the company is involved in have their distinct advantage.

“Today the label industry is certainly getting impacted and we see some consolidation in the industry,” adding that Bobst wants to be a big player in the label industry.

On plastics, he said the industry is under pressure over recycling of flexible packaging: “Flexible packaging will remain, it is a good [type of] packaging; it has to be treated properly, it’s all about recyclability. In food, flexible packaging is a must and will remain for a very long time.”

He added that while the folding cartons sector has opportunities, in corrugated there was the boom in Covid which continued in 2022.

“In 2023 we see this easing. The level of activity should be almost as equal as 2019 before the crisis.”Bobst said the whole supply chain is under pressure, and on sustainability he questioned whether stakeholders were willing to pay more for sustainability.

He added that Bobst saw digital printing as an area of growth for the company: “For us digital printing is part of the portfolio that we want.”

Bobst said that the ‘underlying future’ of Bobst is to prepare the next generation: “Its not a question about age – it’s a question about agility, adaptation. We have seen in the last three years tremendous challenges and issues.

“Essentially, every package is good. For example if you replace a plastic bag with a paper bag, you need to use 20 times more paper bag to have the same CO2 impact,” but he said there is the issue about cutting trees for the paper.

“In industrialised countries we should be smarter, to consume better. This is our duty – within boundaries. Today we don’t have the courage to say we need all types of energies [for economies] to grow. For packaging it’s the same.”