A study released today by R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (RRD) found the market’s most pressing challenges forced packaging decision makers to shift priorities and rethink operations, with 90% changing how their packaging is sourced. The Unpackaging Reality Report explores how converging disruptive issues like supply chain volatility, inflation, labor shortages, and increasing sustainability pressures have impacted the industry.

Surveying 300 packaging decision makers in the U.S., RRD’s study found that material price hikes and supply shortages presented the biggest hurdles for the industry over the past year, with over half of respondents reporting they have been strongly impacted. These challenges, among others, forced organizations to reprioritize packaging materials (68%), budget (52%), packaging design and aesthetics (49%), and sustainability goals (45%). Despite the many challenges brought on by the pandemic and downstream issues, the report found that overall, the packaging industry proved resilient and continued to track toward a more sustainable and innovative future.