The 2023 Major League Baseball season got underway on March 30, and there’s a lot to look forward to this year.

The season is unique from the get-go, with all 30 teams having faced off on Opening Day — the first time that’s happened since 1968. Furthermore, all 30 clubs are scheduled to play on Independence Day, allowing everyone to tune into their favorite team while grilling on July 4.

The league implemented what’s known as the MLB balanced schedule in 2013, but this year the league introduced an even more balanced schedule: For the first time, each team will play at least one series against every other team.

This guarantees World Series rematches going back as far as you want. Speaking as someone who grew up in northeast Kansas and who is a lifelong fan of the Kansas City franchise, that means I can watch the Royals play the San Francisco Giants, to whom they lost the World Series in 2014 (Royals came back the following year and won the World Series against the New York Mets).

And, fearlessly dating myself, I remember Kansas City’s World Series victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in 1985.

Just as baseball fans can look forward to World Series rematches, German trade group VDMA says the packaging machinery industry has a lot to look forward to in 2023.

VDMA, which represents more than 3,500 German and European mechanical and plant engineering companies, provided its outlook ahead of the interpack trade show (May 4-10 in Düsseldorf, Germany).

Despite generally difficult conditions in 2022 characterized by supply bottlenecks and uncertainty in Europe as a result of the war in Ukraine, the group is optimistic about 2023.

VDMA notes that, globally, the demand for packaged food products is growing continuously. Growing populations, urbanization and increasing affluence in many emerging countries are factors which are increasing the demand for safe, shelf-stable packaged food and beverages.

According to data from British market research institute Euromonitor International, sales will increase by 14 percent between 2021 and 2026 to around 5.3 billion tons. The growing market for pharmaceuticals and cosmetic products also represents a considerable potential for packaging machine manufacturers.

VDMA notes that German companies are not the only ones to benefit from this. International trade in packaging machinery — taking into account the export data from 52 industrialized countries — has been rising continuously for years, reaching a record value of 23 billion euros in 2021.

Here’s to packaging machine manufacturers matching up with an expanding global customer base in 2023, just as the Royals and the Cardinals are set for a “World Series rematch” in late May.

Brad Addington
Chief Editor, Packaging Strategies
(248) 227-4727

addingtonb@bnpmedia.com