With the COVID-19 pandemic nearly over and retail stores back open for business, you might expect the cardboard box shortage to be easing as well. Business owners who work in the packaging industry such as Nicole DeJoris, president of the Lombard, Illinois-based Pinnacle Packaging says the shortage isn't anywhere close to over, and retailers can expect it to continue for at least a year, if not longer.
LOMBARD, Ill., Aug. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- With the COVID-19 pandemic nearly over and retail stores back open for business, you might expect the cardboard box shortage to be easing as well. Business owners who work in the packaging industry such as Nicole DeJoris, president of the Lombard, Illinois-based Pinnacle Packaging says the shortage isn't anywhere close to over, and retailers can expect it to continue for at least a year, if not longer.
"There is still a cardboard box and paper shortage, and it's for many of the same reasons that it has been for the past couple of years," DeJoris said. "The perfect storm continues. There are only a handful of paper mills, shopping habits have changed, it's easier to shop online, brick and mortar stores are closing, and it's easier than ever to return items purchased online."
DeJoris isn't alone in her assertion that the shortage is far from over. George Alessandria, an expert in international trade, told Peter Iglinski with the University of Rochester, "While the supply chain shortages started with COVID, they're also due to increased consumer demand, which was fueled by the federal stimulus checks that we probably didn't need to keep the economy recovering. We just didn't understand how consumer demand was going to shift once the pandemic began to ease."
The change in consumer buying habits has a lot to do with convenience and how easy it is to find even unusual items. Even more, it doesn't take hours of driving to 10 different stores to find what is needed, another important factor when considering the rising gas prices.
"Everyone is getting on the e-commerce bandwagon," DeJoris said while admitting, "I'm still old school, and I like to go look at and try things on. But people like me are becoming a rare breed, so the demand for packaging remains high. I have clients whose whole businesses pivoted to cater to the online shopper when they weren't doing that before."
When it comes to paper and cardboard production, the Thomas Index Report says, "The U.S. is the second largest global producer of paper and board, manufacturing more than 70 million tons of material annually…But as e-commerce deliveries began to surge in 2020, many of these U.S. mills converted to produce cardboard instead of paper to meet new demand."
Uncertainty is also a major player, with labor shortages and the war affecting it, but the demand for cardboard is expected to remain high. This is not only due to e-commerce but also because cardboard helps companies achieve sustainability goals as part of the "reduce, recycle, reuse" philosophy.
As a bit of reassurance, DeJoris says retailers can avoid disruption from the shortage if they plan and order ahead of their usual schedule.
"Right now, clients are ordering holiday packaging supplies to ensure they arrive on time," she said. "Other clients are deciding to abandon just-in-time ordering and instead are ordering larger quantities—even a year's worth of supplies—and warehousing it themselves."
About Pinnacle Packaging
At Pinnacle Packaging, we stand behind our products so we can go above and beyond your expectations. With over 20 years in the packaging industry, we are committed to using our expansive knowledge of the packaging industry to provide our customers with the latest supply and packaging design information. When standard packaging supplies alone are not enough, we work with customers to provide custom packaging solutions. We ultimately work to make sure our customers are prepared and informed about the offerings available to their business so they can create a lasting impression through packaging. http://www.PinnaclePackaging.net.
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SOURCE Pinnacle Packaging
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