Consolidated market, tight margins — but customer retention and cross-selling are almost never systematically managed.
The German packaging industry has arrived at a new reality in 2025 — and it is structural, not cyclical. After a phase of strong growth through 2022, the industry's production value declined to around 30 billion euros in 2024. By 2026, a further drop to approximately 26 billion euros is projected — an average annual decline of around 5%.
On the buyer side, a wave of mergers among major industrial and food companies is shifting negotiating power further against packaging suppliers. And with the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) taking effect in stages from 2026, a regulatory transformation pressure is emerging that puts the entire product portfolio of many companies under scrutiny. In this environment, what determines success is no longer production efficiency alone — it is the ability to systematically retain customers and run sales as a strategic function.
Existing customers stay because switching is costly — not because they are actively managed. That is a fragile foundation that breaks quickly under price pressure or customer-side consolidation.
Customers who buy one product often buy more — but no one actively manages which customers have which potential. Services are offered when the customer asks. Not before they ask.
A, B, and C customers are treated equally — same visit frequency, same service level, same communication. Resources do not flow to where the leverage is greatest.
The PPWR requirements from 2026 onward will force customers to review their packaging portfolio — an enormous advisory and development window for suppliers who approach it proactively. Most do not.
While production processes are increasingly automated, sales remains largely manual and experience-driven — no data-driven account scoring, no AI-assisted potential analysis, no automated follow-up.
We define clear criteria for which customers are worked with which intensity — by revenue, margin, strategic importance, and growth potential. Equal treatment becomes differentiated management.
We identify which customers have which expansion potential — across products, formats, materials, and services — and build the process that addresses these opportunities actively and at the right moment.
The regulatory requirements of the coming years are not a risk for well-prepared suppliers — they are a door-opener. Suppliers who guide their customers through portfolio transitions now build loyalty that competitors cannot replicate. We build the sales approach for this.
Customer potential analysis, automated call preparation, account scoring based on ordering and behavioral data — we identify the AI use cases that genuinely work in your sales operation, and guide the rollout in a practical way.
More stable customer base despite market pressure. Systematically managed customers stay longer, buy more, and switch less — even when competitors become more aggressive on price.
More revenue from existing accounts through targeted cross-selling. The greatest growth potential in most packaging and print companies is already in the customer base — untapped because no process exists to systematically unlock it.
PPWR as a competitive advantage. Those who proactively guide their customers through the regulatory transformation build loyalty and differentiation that pure price providers cannot replicate.
More predictable revenue in a declining market. A functioning pipeline and account development logic gives management and sales early visibility into upcoming business — instead of hoping for inbound orders.
Sales maturity as a standalone competitive advantage. In a consolidated market where product and price increasingly converge, the quality of the sales function becomes a differentiator — vis-à-vis customers and competitors alike.
Let's take 30 minutes to identify where the biggest lever in your revenue system lies — and what a meaningful first step for your company would look like.
No pitch. A structured initial conversation with a concrete outcome.