FINAT reports: Navigating the new normal: How geopolitics & socio-economic trends will reshape the label industry
In the opening keynote of European Label Forum 2025, Ron Keller delivered a compelling, wide‑angle view of the shifting geopolitical and socio‑economic landscape, and what it means for our industry. For label printers, converters, and suppliers, these “big picture” trends are far from abstract: they are already rippling into material costs, sourcing strategies, new markets, and regulatory frameworks.
This article is the first in a series covering the FINAT ELF sessions. Over the coming weeks, we will dig into each session, translating insights into actionable takeaways for the label community. In this instalment, we distil the keynote’s themes into what matters most when geopolitics meets labels, and what insights for the label industry, we as FINAT can get out of this keynote.
1. Supply Chain Vulnerability & Resilience
The Big Trend
Global supply chains are under pressure. The keynote highlighted how regional conflicts, export controls, diplomatic friction, and raw‑material bottlenecks are prompting companies to rethink how “just in time” actually works in a fractured world. The speaker emphasised that relying on a few geographies for critical inputs is no longer tenable: diversification and onshoring are becoming strategic necessities.
When a port is disrupted or a trade lane gets closed, the shock isn’t just temporary; the rebalancing takes months or years.
What It Means for Label Businesses
- Material sourcing risk: Many specialty inks, adhesives, or films are produced in geopolitically sensitive regions. If export licensing or trade sanctions interrupt supply, your cost base can suddenly spike.
- Buffer strategy: Rather than lean inventories, you may need to carry strategic reserves of critical components, especially those with few alternate suppliers.
- Supplier geography audit: Map your supply chain: identify “single‑source” or high‑risk suppliers. Seek secondary or regional suppliers to hedge risk.
- Cost forecasting: Build scenario stress tests (e.g. a 20 % to 40 % cost shock in film or resin) into your budgeting cycles.
- Near‑shoring / reshoring opportunities: For EU-based printers, there may be a first‑mover advantage in establishing local or regional supply chains, even at slightly higher cost, to avoid disruption risk.
2. Shifting Consumer Behaviour & Sustainability Pressure
The Big Trend
Consumer expectations are changing fast. It was pointed out that sustainability, circular packaging mandates, and "purpose‑driven" brands are now baseline. Beyond that, geopolitical uncertainty (e.g. energy prices, inflation) is reshaping purchasing decisions. There’s also a rising tension between cost sensitivity and demand for "green credentials.
We see brands are scrutinising their entire value chain, labels, adhesives, film waste, as part of their environmental story, not just the main packaging.
What It Means for Label Businesses
- Sustainability as differentiator: Printers that can supply more “circular” or compostable options, or that can credibly lower carbon footprints (e.g. via energy efficiency), may win premium contracts.
- Proof and transparency: Expect demand for life‑cycle data, carbon modelling, traceability of raw materials (e.g. bio‑based components). You may need to integrate more data systems or reporting.
- Cost squeeze vs margin pressure: Some clients may push to absorb sustainability costs; others may look for cheaper (but lower‑impact) alternatives. You’ll need to align your bid strategies accordingly.
- Innovation opportunity: New adhesives, films, barrier coatings, and recycling technologies may allow you to lead in niche, high-margin product segments (e.g. compostable labels, reusable-label systems).
- Brand partnership role: As brands increasingly position themselves as purpose-driven, they may look to label suppliers as strategic partners (not just vendors) to help them tell the full sustainability story.
3. Regulatory & Trade Policy Headwinds
The Big Trend
The keynote stressed that geopolitical competition is increasingly expressed via regulation: export controls, sanctions, local content rules, and data sovereignty measures. What was once technical (tariffs) is now deeply geopolitical (e.g. strategic restrictions on chemicals or AI). The upshot: policy uncertainty is rising.
Companies must treat regulation no longer as a cost of doing business but as a strategic terrain in which influence must be exerted.
What It Means for Label Businesses
- Tariff & trade risk: Stay updated on EU, UK, US, China, and regional trade policies that might affect raw materials (films, specialty resins, adhesives). Sudden tariff reimpositions can upend margins.
- Local content and sourcing mandates: Governments may require “x % regional sourcing” for public procurement. Being well-positioned in the local supply chain may unlock new contracts.
- Regulation engagement: National and European associations (like FINAT) become critical platforms to monitor, influence, and react to regulatory shifts. Individual companies should engage in advocacy, not wait passively.
- Compliance overhead: You may need to invest in regulatory monitoring, legal risk teams, or certification systems (e.g. REACH, RoHS, chemical import licenses).
- Geopolitical risk premiums: For some exports or imports, you’ll need to factor in a “policy risk buffer” into pricing.
4. Technological Competition, Sovereignty & Digitalisation
The Big Trend
Mr Keller argued that technologies, particularly AI, automation, and digital platforms, are now battlegrounds in geopolitical rivalry. Beyond industrial efficiency, they're about national sovereignty. Countries striving for control over data, semiconductor supply, and high‑end manufacturing tools could reshape which geographies lead in label innovation.
The next frontier is not just machines. It’s who owns the algorithms, controls the data, and defines interoperability standards.
What It Means for Label Businesses
- Digital tools as strategic assets: Adopting AI, predictive analytics, and smart factory systems isn't optional. It becomes a differentiator in global competition.
- Interoperability and standards: Where digital platforms lock in proprietary formats, your flexibility may suffer. Favor open standards and modular systems.
- Data governance & sovereignty: Be mindful where data is stored and processed. In some jurisdictions, rules require local storage or limit cross-border flows.
- Edge computing & autonomy: Investing in local compute capacity (versus cloud dependence) can future‑proof against regulatory or network disruptions.
- Talent & upskilling war: Expect competition for engineers, data scientists, and specialists who can marry label know-how with digital proficiency.
Conclusion & Takeaways
The keynote at ELF 2025 painted a sobering but hopeful picture: the label industry does not exist in a vacuum. The geopolitical, regulatory, and socio‑economic undercurrents that once seemed external to “packaging” are now central to every decision we make.
Key takeaways to carry forward:
- Risk = structural, not episodic. Supply chain disruptions and policy shocks are no longer “black swans” but part of the new baseline.
- Sustainability + transparency = table stakes. It's no longer enough to be “green-lite”. Brands and regulators will demand proof.
- Regulation = strategy. You must monitor, engage, and adapt, not just respond.
- Tech sovereignty matters. Who controls data, AI, and automation will become a competitive axis.
At FINAT, we believe that facing these challenges together strengthens us all. As an industry association, FINAT is committed to enabling this collective intelligence: sharing regulatory alerts, sponsoring research, convening peer networks, and advocating for the industry’s interests across Europe.
What Next?
We invite you to reflect: Which of these macro‑trends already affects your business most strongly? What strategic response are you considering? Share your thoughts with FINAT (via email info@finat.com or via LinkedIn) and stay tuned for the next article in our FINAT European Label Forum 2025 series, where we’ll dive into the next keynote’s insights and their concrete implications.
Together, we can transform uncertainty into opportunity, and build a more resilient, competitive, and connected label industry.
Make sure to stay up-to-date and to request your seat at the table at the European Label Forum 2026 on 27-29 May 2026 in Seville, Spain - https://www.europeanlabelforum.com/. (Registration will start in February 2026.)