IFE Manufacturing talks to Josh Webster, Head of Marketing at Croxsons, about some of the latest trends in the world of packaging and why Croxsons took part in 2024's event. 

What do Croxsons do?

Croxsons is a business that has been supplying glass packaging and closures to international food and beverage brands for over 150 years. Uniquely it’s still family-owned now in the fifth generation of the family.  

Who are some of your key clients?

We work with both new, emerging brands and large, well-established ones. We can supply businesses with as little as one pallet to large container orders, which gives customers flexibility when it comes to their supply chain. Some of those larger brands we work with include Silent Pool Gin, with their stunning teal bottle, and Thatcher’s Cider who, like us, are a family-owned business. We work with so many amazing brands and love bringing their packaging with us to show off at IFE Manufacturing.

Why did Croxsons take part in IFE Manufacturing this year, and what was your experience of the event?

IFE Manufacturing was a great opportunity to catch up with existing clients and meet with new customers. We recently expanded our team with Lindsay Martin, as Business Development Manager, who is focusing on the closures side of our business. IFE was a great opportunity for us to talk about our closures range, from beer crowns and twist-off lids to spirit bartops and wine corks, and the different benefits of branding on closures too.

The event had really good footfall, and we got lots of compliments on a stand design! The conversations we had were great and we’re looking forward to working with the variety of brands that we met with over the three days. We’re already signed up for next year!

What are some of the key trends in packaging?

Branding is hugely important in the packaging industry and we’re seeing emerging brands implementing strong messaging or storytelling to stand out from the crowd. This means there is more decoration on standard bottles, adding personalisation to both containers and closures. We’re also seeing premiumisation and food manufacturers opting for deep twist-off jars and lids to set themselves apart from the market.

Sustainability is of course a hot topic within the packaging industry as more businesses look to remove plastic from their supply chains. There is a lot that businesses can do to improve their supply chain and we hope that some of the things that we are doing will help encourage others to take the climate emergency seriously.

What is Croxsons’ approach to sustainability?

As a business we can’t do everything, but we must do something. We recently launch our Sustainable World animation on YouTube which lays out what Croxsons is doing now and into the future. We’re acutely aware that glass manufacturing is an energy-intensive process, but the future is looking clean with electricity, hydrogen and beyond. There are lots of new and innovative processes that the glass industry is working on to improve this and help the UK governments commitment to reach net zero by 2050.

To celebrate reaching 150 years of Croxsons we planted 150,000 trees through our partnership with Ecologi, and we continue to work with them on carbon reducing projects. We also have offset the carbon footprint of every single employee as part of our journey to becoming a carbon neutral business.

We believe sustainability isn’t just about the environment, but is about the planets people too, which is why we have a long-standing practise of donating a significant amount of profit to charitable causes. We recently provided funds to build a school in Malawi through Hope4Malawi, where students were learning outside and under trees, as well as a variety of other projects.  

Do you have any new or upcoming products that you’d like to share with our audience?

We have some fantastic products that people can see on our website, and if people are looking for something more bespoke the team are always happy to help create the perfect bottle for them. When it comes to closures for spirit bottles, we have a fantastic tool on our website for brands to design their own bartop so they can see the different options to really standout.

Find out more about Croxsons products and approach to people and planet at croxsons.com.