Health and eco-innovation in food packaging - a literature review

Innovative packaging solutions such as smart and sustainable packaging, are introduced in the market to satisfy the consumer demand for healthy and environmentally sustainable food products. Consumer acceptance and willingness to pay for such packages are key factors for their successful commercialization. The aim of this study is to investigate and identify patterns of consumers acceptance and willingness to pay (WTP) for smart and sustainable packages by collecting evidence available in the literature and published between 2005 to 2018. Results show that consumers acceptance and WTP for smart packaging are influenced by the consumers knowledge about these technologies. Also, consumers accept and are willing to use sustainable packages to protect the environment regardless the match between the food product and the packaging material. Instead, consumers WTP for sustainable packages largely depends to the healthiness perception of the food product.