The project, named 'The Big Easy', added a new ingredient, redesigned the packaging, updated the label and nutritional information, and delivered finished pouches to event attendees inside two days. TraceGains and Esko said the point was not to prove that every project should run in 48 hours, but to show that the bottlenecks holding up most reformulations are structural rather than technical.
"Companies regularly adjust recipes to address changing consumer preferences, evolving regulations, sustainability commitments, ingredient shortages and cost pressures. These projects can often become trapped in fragmented workflows, with teams working across disconnected systems and datasets," said Paul Bradley, Senior Director of Product Marketing at TraceGains.
The demonstration combined the TraceGains supplier network with Esko's packaging and artwork management tools, maintaining what the companies described as a single source of truth from sourcing and product specifications through to print production. AI-powered capabilities were used to accelerate artwork creation, review and approval.
Both companies pointed to the approaching EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) as the kind of external pressure that exposes fragmentation in existing processes. Jan De Roeck, Esko's Marketing Director, said: "Whether the driver is new regulation, sustainability commitments, supply chain disruption or changing consumer expectations, companies need packaging processes that can keep up."
"The industry has spent years talking about digital transformation, but many companies still manage product and packaging updates through disconnected processes," Bradley said. "When a product changes, ingredients, nutritional values, supplier documentation, claims, labels, artwork and approvals must all stay aligned. We've shown that brands no longer need to address these activities separately."
TraceGains, part of Veralto, serves around 1,500 global brands including half the top 100 food and beverage manufacturers. Esko serves more than 25,000 customers across 140 countries with software and hardware for prepress, packaging design and label production.
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