The demand for smart packaging is expected to grow by 8 percent annually, according to experts.

PMMI predicts over 400 companies will exhibit on the over 100,000 net sq. ft. of space.

Last year, some members of the dairy industry thought it hip to be in square packaging. But Dean Foods, Inc. is taking a more circuitous route. Its Land O’Lakes brand sour cream and cottage cheese products are appearing on retailer shelves throughout the upper Midwest in curved packaging.

 Make a perfect cup of coffee—or tea—in about 30 seconds. Might sound too good to be true, but Australian inventor Dave Hopper may have enabled you to do just that with the development of Quikstix. 

 A pet peeve for some dog owners is not being able to feed their pets a warm meal. But that problem is being addressed with a heated, moist supplement for dry food in a package familiar to the world of single-serve soups, pastas and snacks. 

 Sustainability is a consumer trend that is transforming the packaging industry. The top three concerns in relation to beverage packaging include recycling or landfilling, renewable resources and energy, said Erin Reynolds, marketing director at Evergreen Packaging, at last year’s Sustainable Packaging Forum in St. Petersburg, FL.