A big shift in how consumers see brands is happening right now

In the past two years there has been a massive shift in how consumers see waste and garbage.

Whereas before people used to just think of garbage as an unfortunate by-product of living in a hyper-consumerist society; now they are actively avoiding products and brands that are designed to produce waste.

Just go to the Oranjezicht City Farmers Market on a Wednesday, Saturday or Sunday and have a look at the sheers numbers of people choosing to buy their fruit and vegetables free from plastic packaging and you will get a sense that consumers are wanting to support business and brands that give them that option.

In the UK, Bulk Market is a package-free store that was born to fix this. The company offers products to be purchased in bulk, with the objective to help consumers to take home only the quantity they need (without packaging).

What should you be doing about it then?

The primary objective of a business is to acquire and to keep a customer. If customers are starting to choose brands and products that make a considerable effort to eliminate the inevitability of their packaging becoming garbage after you have used it - then our obvious suggestion to you would be to solve that problem as soon as possible.

If in the 2010's the mantra was that 'all companies are tech companies'; then in the 2020's 'all companies are circular by design'.

Brands should be making a positive contribution to society and the planet - if not, then their lifespan will become seriously shortened.