The preliminary results of the BIOSWITCH survey on brand owners’ perspectives presented at EFIB 2020

Our partner James Gaffey, from the Institute of Technology, Tralee, participated in the European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy (EFIB 2020) on October 8.
James joined the Future of Bioprocesses and Biorefineries session to share the preliminary results of the survey on brand owners’ perspectives on switching to bio-based approaches carried out by BIOSWITCH.

The study surveyed 60 brand owners across 10 countries, mostly representing the food sector. While only 29% of companies currently use biobased packaging, a whopping 95% would consider doing it in the future. The main barriers they identified for this transition are costs (58%), uncertainty of functional performance (54%) and incompatibility with existing processes (32%). Similarly, poor functionality (61%) and incompatibility with existing processes (52%) are seen as the biggest risks.

So, what do brand owners consider would help them in switching to biobased? Competitive prices (83%), compatibility with existing processes and the same functional performance (65%). Brands are motivated by sustainability targets and customer demand, as well as the desire to show their capacity to innovate. Three fourths of the interviewed brand owners envisage strong or moderate growth of customer demand for biobased products over the next five years, with the main drivers being customer preference and awareness.

Thus, consumer education on biobased alternatives is critical for the switch from fossil-based to bio-based approaches.