The session opens with one statement that dismantles the biggest assumption in packaging today. Not a slide. Not a statistic. Just the line — and what it means for every brief you'll write after this.

Five of the most dangerous beliefs in packaging — rapidly taken apart. Paper vs plastic. Weight and premiumness. Bio-based vs biodegradable. Recycling symbols. Consumer willingness to pay. Show of hands, expert reveals, no hand-holding.

A physical material kit lands on every table before the first slide. rPET. Ocean-captured plastic. PCR formats. Monomaterial structures. Lightweighted bottles. Paper-based and fibre formats. Refill and reuse systems. You handle each one. You feel the difference. You find out which ones you were wrong about — and why material technology has made the trade-off argument obsolete.

This is the part of the session people talk about afterwards.

Five everyday products on every table — shampoo bottle, snack wrapper, coffee cup lid, detergent pouch, supplement jar. Grade each one for recyclability, shelf appeal, and premium perception. Then the table debates. Then the reveal.

Almost everyone gets two or more wrong — including the ones they were most confident about.

Four global packaging standards. Four compliance deadlines. One design implication each. Not a policy briefing — a design challenge. For each regulation, you answer: what would a pack that meets this standard and elevates the brand actually look like?

Open floor. One brief. No structure. If you were launching a new FMCG product tomorrow — what pack would you build? What material? What format? What does it say about the brand before the consumer even opens it? Experts don't just facilitate this one. They build alongside you.