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For all the noise around innovation in flexo, and despite its continued relevance for long-run packaging, digital printing remains the gold standard when it comes to agility in today’s packaging landscape.
Retailers are demanding faster launches, and consumer trends shift in days, not quarters. Brands are running shorter campaigns, hyper-targeted formats, and seasonal promotions that simply couldn’t exist a decade ago. Brands that cannot adapt and move quickly as the market demands, simply get left behind. So, for converters and brands operating in this space, speed to market is a deal-breaker. That’s where digital printing earns its keep, time and again.
The real-world advantage
Digital printing technology is moving so far, so fast, that it’s becoming a competitive disadvantage for converters that don’t offer it. It’s not just about keeping up with customer expectations anymore, it’s about staying relevant in a supply chain that’s changing by the week. At Eco Flexibles, we don’t treat digital as a silo. It sits alongside flexo and other traditional processes, and our strength lies in knowing which tool to use, when, and why. It’s about delivering the right outcome, every time.
Our project with Family Secret is a great example of where agility becomes a core strength. This was a full packaging concept-to-shelf sprint for Chinese New Year. New artwork, variants, print, and pack delivery, all delivered by Eco Flexibles in seven days. That’s not faster than average, that’s impossible without digital.
Not just any digital printing, either. Our investment in the Fujifilm Jet Press FP790, water-based, high-resolution, food-contact-ready and the first of its kind outside of Japan, was what made that turnaround possible. No plate delays, no solvent plate washout, just quality print, fast, with no compromise on colour or performance.
Speed is strategy
What we’ve seen in the years post-COVID is a retail environment where agility wins business. Buyers are drawn to brands that can react fast, trial ideas quickly, and refresh SKUs without ballooning costs. The days of treating packaging like a fixed asset are over, packaging today is a tactical advantage and that changes how we, as suppliers, have to operate.
Digital print enables this adaptability. Whether it’s multilingual SKUs for export markets, micro-brand activations, influencer collabs, or a three-week themed run for seasonal products, digital gives converters a way to say yes to more. Not “we’ll check our tooling capacity” or “we’ll need two weeks for plates”, just “when do you need it?”
Flexo isn’t going anywhere. In fact, with today’s technology, it’s better than ever. But while flexo gets leaner and more efficient, it’s chasing a moving target. The very definition of efficient is shifting toward smaller runs, tighter timeframes, and lower waste. That’s a game digital has been playing, and winning, for years.
As a general rule, the brands we work with don’t want a philosophical debate about print methods. They want packaging that’s ready for launch, looks exceptional on shelf, and is designed with sustainability in mind. That’s where digital printing brings compounding value: low MOQs, lower waste, faster turnarounds, and no performance drop-off.
From backup plan to first choice
It’s telling how often digital was once the backup option, brought into the conversation if flexo can’t make the deadline. That mindset has flipped and today, we see brands actively choosing digital first because they understand the risks of delay. Being second or third to shelf with a good idea is often worse than never launching at all.
When a packaging line can pivot mid-run, test a variant, or split a job across languages without blinking, that’s infrastructure-level agility.
There’s a lot of buzz around what’s next in print, and rightly so. It’s an exciting time for innovation, fresh creative thinking and technology that continues to move the game forwards.
But amidst all the tech talk and process improvements, let’s not lose sight of what digital is already delivering. It’s not emerging or hypothetical. It’s here, it works, and it’s keeping brands in the game.
