You have been active in the packaging industry since the beginning of your career. What originally attracted you to this field – and why have you stayed?
For me, packaging was never a necessary evil, but always an industry with responsibility and scope for shaping outcomes. What fascinated me from the very beginning was its diversity. I am convinced that packaging processes only work if you do not focus solely on individual aspects, but understand the interrelationships.
I learned early on that the bottleneck is rarely a lack of knowledge. The real bottleneck is the ability to make decisions together. As soon as people from marketing, procurement, logistics, production and quality share a common picture and a common vision, solutions suddenly become possible – and more consistent as well. I have stayed in the field to this day because packaging processes reveal with ruthless clarity how well an organisation truly works together. Hardly any other area holds up such an honest mirror.
You recently became Head of International Packaging Technology at Trolli. What are your key responsibilities in this role and what goals are you pursuing there?
I deliberately do not think in terms of traditional organisational charts. For me, the focus is on roles, responsibilities and interfaces. That is exactly why an overarching operating model is so important to me.
This model is not a “packaging department that controls everything”. On the contrary, it must not be a control instrument, but an enablement model. Packaging processes work well when knowledge remains where it is created, while at the same time being brought together in a structured way.
At Trolli, we manage centrally the things that need to be scaled: standards, platforms, governance, training, audits and an overarching supplier strategy. Operational implementation very deliberately remains where the expertise sits – in the regions and plants.
My goal is therefore very clear: to take collective intelligence to the next level. How can everyone involved make better decisions? How do we communicate these decisions in a way that they are understood just as clearly on the production line as they are by the brand team or management? Creating and exemplifying this clarity is what I see as my responsibility.
How do the requirements in a globally operating confectionery company differ from those in your previous positions?
For me, working globally does not mean “more of the same”, but a different dimension of complexity. Different markets, plants, supply chains and business models do not just increase the need for coordination. Any lack of clarity becomes immediately visible, and that is not something unique to the confectionery industry.
That is why I am less interested in the question of the “best global packaging”. What matters more is this: how do we ensure that an organisation makes consistently good, repeatable decisions in every market?
I am convinced that we need global standards where they provide orientation, speed and risk mitigation. Local responsibility should remain where proximity to production and the market determines quality.
And there is something else that is often underestimated on a global level: IT infrastructure and communication are not side issues. Not because people are unwilling, but because every specialist area has its own language, its own tools and its own logic. Connecting these worlds is a core leadership task.
You describe your approach to packaging development as holistic. How would you define this holistic way of thinking, and how would you like to use it to change the industry?
For me, holistic does not mean “a bit of everything”, but taking responsibility for complex process chains: every packaging decision has an impact, for example on procurement, production, logistics, quality, the brand and ultimately the consumer.
I have often seen how quickly projects lose momentum because the right people come together too late: a design may inspire enthusiasm, only for people to realise too late how complex the implementation really is. Then the familiar ping-pong between departments begins. That costs time, money and energy.
If we want to change the packaging industry, it will not be through the next material debate. There have been enough of those. It will come through a different way of working – and these four points are crucial for me:
Our greatest innovation often lies not in the material, but in the way we work together. What matters is the ability to turn individual expertise into shared, sustainable decisions.
Interview by: Alexander Stark, Editor, FACHPACK360°
