Glass Trend day focuses on industry challenges and opportunities

Energy prices, sustainability, digitisation and the effects of the pandemic were among the topics at this year’s Glass Trend Day.

The conference, organised by Germany’s Glass Packaging Action Forum, was held as a hybrid in-person and online event this year due to the pandemic.

Wiegand-Glas CEO, Oliver Wiegand, in his role as Vice President of the Federal Association of the Glass Industry, discussed the great challenges for the glass industry.

“The trend and demand for glass is unbroken. What is bothering us, however, are the exploding electricity and gas prices."

“Electricity prices in particular must fall in the future, because electricity is an important source of energy if we as a glass industry want to become climate-neutral in the long term," he said.

This led to an announcement: The Federal Glass Industry Association is researching intensively to achieve the goal of climate neutrality and has commissioned a CO2 roadmap in this regard. The results are to be presented at the Glass Trend Day 2022.

Other speakers at the event in Munich, Germany on November 18 included Nestle, Almdudler and GfK.

Hanna Kehl, Senior Manager at GfK, describes herself as the 'shopper's mouthpiece'.

In her lecture on the world of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), she highlighted the key drivers for 2022.

Brands that manage to offer real added value in terms of sustainability or social commitment will gain in importance.

According to Kehl, the future will be partly driven by socio-economic awareness.

Dr. Johann Overath, General Manager of the Federal Glass Industry Association, said. “Once again we had top-class speakers on site who broadened our horizons and looked to the future. I am also particularly pleased that our premiere of streaming the trend day glass and offering it as a hybrid event worked so well. "