We are living through a historic moment in the world and the global packaging industry. The spread of COVID-19 has markets in constant flux, and the news reports highlight the increasing figures of the afflicted and countries are suspending travel and closing borders.

This report has been written to answer some key questions regarding the striking challenges that we as an industry and the world face with the emergence of COVID-19. First, we present how the flexo industry handled similar challenges such as the September 11th economic crisis and the 2008 recession.

Second, we analyze how the flexographic industry has been affected by COVID-19. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the landscape of everyday life for everybody and has created new trends in the printing and packaging industry such as the increased demand for packaged foods, safe packaging and distribution, and an enormous increase in e-commerce. In this report, we explain the current trends in the flexo industry and we propose solutions to help you respond to these new challenges.

The new trends in the flexo printing and packaging industry

Increased demand for packaged goods

People’s response to COVID-19 is controlled by fear and panic. Consumers are panic-buying a month’s worth of supplies creating a danger in shortages. The industries with the highest demand are the food retail, medical products and supplies as well as e-commerce.

Safe packaging & distribution

Given the fact that COVID-19 is considered to have started spreading through the wholesale seafood and meat market in Wuhan, this animal-borne virus demands the full attention in meat handling and distribution methods. Flexible packaging provides bigger safety and sterilization comparing to wholesale fresh meat markets.


Online orders and delivery of goods and services are rising as people are spending more time at home due to the fear of the coronavirus spreading.
This trend is only expected to increase as new habits are adopted. The COVID-19 outbreak will last for the foreseeable future and consumers with hygiene and social distancing in mind will aim to reduce interactions by adopting online services more so when possible.

What impact will the coronavirus have on the flexo narrow-web, packaging and corrugated market?

In the long-term, it is expected that the demand for corrugated boxes to increase since it is highly correlated with shipping and delivering goods. Even after the termination of the national lock-downs, for at least until the end of 2020, the need for packaged goods will continue to be high, therefore printers and converters need to be prepared for the continuation of this increased demand that they are called to fulfill.

For further information and industry specifics, download the whitepaper

AV Flexologic’s approach to the challenging times of COVID-19

We have been always driven by innovation and the need to find better ways of solving the challenges for our valued customers. Our mission is to be the best in technology and customer experience.

Therefore, within a week we turned our largest conference room into a remote demo center with multiple cameras and an interactive system to offer you a 4K experience of their mounting solutions. AV Flexologic’s Managing Director, Martijn Otten will personally help guide you and explain which technology and machine best fits your business based on your needs.

Do you have any questions? Do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected]