Recently, my brother and I were helping empty some things out of our parents’ house. We had to laugh at the thirty years of stuff our dad had accumulated in one of the closets, a fair amount of it broken or obsolete. He tried to defend many an item by insisting it could be on “Antiques Roadshow,” but unless there’s a version that appraises broken parts for stoves you no longer have, none could. Once he got over the pain of letting things go, even he admitted there are now sleeker alternatives for taking pictures than his clunky Polaroid.

To give him credit, just because a technology is newer does not automatically mean it is better. In New Age of Package Printing, we look at the advantages of printing on digital presses, not to belittle conventional printing as some kind of fossil but to help brands find the best possible packaging methods for their situation. The flexibility digital printing offers may be what your brand needs to see increased profitability this year.

Also in this issue, BRANDPACKAGING is pleased to introduce Sourced, a new department that details an industry problem and shows its solution. Click over to Rogers Family Coffee to see how Innovia Films helped the brand achieve its sustainability goals with its pod packaging.

 Finally, we have opened up our call for speakers for 2015’s Packaging That Sells, held Oct. 12-14 in Chicago. Visit www.packagingthatsells.com for more details on the type of presentations we are seeking and to submit your abstract. We will be accepting proposals now through March 6.