Yesterday, the results of a report on the strategic update of the packaging sector in Catalonia were presented at Acció's headquarters. Following the institutional welcome by Alberto Pezzi, Senior Manager of Clusters at Acció, intervened Martina Font, president of the Packaging Cluster“The global packaging sector is worth $1,3 trillion, with a projected annual growth of 3%,” stated Pezzi, noting that Catalonia alone generates $12.000 billion in revenue. “We are the second-largest European country in attracting investment, second only to Germany,” he added.
Between 2020 and 2025, the EU registered 132 FDI projects in the packaging sector, representing over €2.300 billion in investment and the creation of more than 6.200 jobs. Spain was the second largest recipient of this FDI in terms of invested capital (€449,41 million), second only to Germany (€602,34 million). Between 2020 and 2025, Catalonia was the Spanish region with the highest number of FDI projects in the packaging sector, accounting for 30,43% of the national total.
The packaging sector is cross-cutting and industrial, involving a variety of technologies. “The European Union has set a target of 20% of GDP for the packaging industry, and in Catalonia we aspire to 25%,” stated Martina Font. “Packaging, with its combination of technology, sustainability, and global impact, has everything it needs to attract talent,” she added.
In Catalonia, a total of 855 packaging companies generate a turnover of €12.227 billion and employ 36.512 people. Suppliers to packaging manufacturers account for almost a fifth of the sector's turnover (14,49%). Packaging manufacturers represent more than 70% of the sector (605 of the 855 companies). Most packaging machinery companies are growing at rates exceeding 5%, above the sector average.
Then Giulia DiamanteThe team leader for sectoral analysis and opportunity identification at Acció, presented the report's findings. Plastics will continue to hold a dominant position, and food remains the primary end market, but health and animal feed are experiencing the fastest growth.
The packaging sector is a market with constant growth worldwide (over the last ten years and maintaining a sustained growth trend until 2035). “The global market is growing at 4,42% (CAGR 2015-2025), with machinery showing the strongest growth at 5,7%,” he explained. The estimated CAGR growth for the global packaging market (2025-2035) is 3,16%.
Industry trends
Ernest González Garrido, and Maria Pedrals PérezCluster Development consultants explained the main trends in the packaging sector: high concentration of the sector, market polarization, sustainability as a commodity, competition in access to recycled materials, greater complexity in market demand, AI and digital tools for efficiency, operations and service, growth of competition from low-cost countries and new business models - servitization.
Regarding the strategic challenges for the sector in Catalonia, Maria Pedrals pointed out that packaging manufacturers need to be partners in co-innovation in packaging and experts in the end market: “being able to innovate in materials and functionality, being able to test innovations with the client… being expert partners in knowledge of the end market to anticipate the client and the needs of the consumer.”
For machinery manufacturers, the strategy would be to be partners in high-performance and technically specialized solutions, as well as being operational in close proximity.
Roundtable
Encarni Avilés, responsible for the food and packaging clusters at Acció, moderated a round table in which the following participated: Sílvia Palomé, head of the packaging market at Eurecat; Cristina Schiess, Sales Area Manager at Hamer; Jordi Parés, CEO of Bolsaplast; and Guillem Vilanova, executive director of innovation and strategic projects at Innovapack.
“Our service saves us from competition from low-cost countries,” stated Guillem Vilanova, a sentiment echoed by Jordi Parés: “We’ve emphasized comprehensive service, providing expert advice… we’ve gone from handling very large orders to specializing in short runs.” For Cristina Schiess, “we can differentiate ourselves from Asian competitors, who are low-cost but not low-tech, through flexibility—we can customize the machines—in innovation, and in after-sales service.”
“We help companies go further and to achieve this I am committed to betting on new business models,” added Palomé, who emphasized that at Eurecat they are multi-technology and multi-sectoral.
During the panel discussion, many topics were addressed, from the difficulty of retaining talent to sustainability, which is no longer a differentiating factor and entails more costs for manufacturers, who also have problems at the materials level.
Retaining talent
The day concluded with a presentation on “The new paradigm of talent in the age of AI” by Iolanda Triviño, a specialist in talent transformation. “Perhaps we are speaking a different language than the new generations,” he noted, adding that the average tenure for a mid-level position is a year and a half.
“The current model no longer reflects the real context,” he stated. “Talent is no longer looking for a job. It’s looking for a project. It’s looking for growth. It’s looking for a future,” Triviño said. And he added: “We train people, but we don’t design career paths.”
