Why Latin America needs a more regionalised innovation approach

Ronaldo Mello, Avery Dennison's vice president and general manager, Label and Graphic Materials, Latin America, shares his perspective on innovating in complex regional conditions and why localised solutions are needed to address sustainability in the packaging industry while simultaneously improving the customer experience.

As an emerging market, Latin America is full of potential from an innovation perspective. On the one hand, we are agile enough to take on bold experiments and on the other hand, we have the size to scale our innovation and move the industry forwards at a much faster rate. It’s because of this ambition and ability that the region has become a growth frontier for many industries.

Accelerating innovation

With the launch of Avery Dennison's own accelerator programme, AD Stretch, the decision to focus on LATAM and APAC was made with clear intent. Global innovation has thus far been dominated by the needs of the West which has left the rest of the world underrepresented. It also means that smaller regional start-ups have flown under the radar, giving us the opportunity to unearth some hidden gems in our region.

Internally, we are in a period of adjustment, adopting what we call ‘innovation sprints’ whereby we have many colleagues involved in different innovation work streams. With the prospect of an innovation partner on the horizon, we’re primed for the steep learning curve ahead.=

Optimized to innovate

Our strength in this region is agility, we’ve had to be adaptable and comfortable with multiple unknown variables to cope with such a demanding geography and an ever changing political climate. Where many regions grapple with a fear of the unknown, our culture has been formed on the back of embracing curve-balls in order to succeed. It’s through our comfort with the process of testing, failing, recovering and improving that makes us optimized to innovate.

Where we’ve previously lacked is the infrastructure or process to connect with the different stakeholders necessary to drive innovation at a global scale. Yet we do understand the complexities of our own region and have identified the areas that require our immediate attention.

It’s through AD stretch that we seek to amplify this understanding by learning fast, collaborating externally and driving an innovative mindset in addressing key challenges for our industry. This is with a view to improving the function of packaging in order to better connect with customers and develop the consumer experience. Meanwhile we need to respond to the growing need for more sustainable solutions and further embrace smart technology that will improve traceability and transparency.

Regional need versus a global approach

When questioning the need for a localised approach, it’s important to acknowledge the role geographic bias has to play. When the world delivers solutions for the largest markets, they are often targeted at the Northern Hemisphere. Yet the needs of the Southern Hemisphere are different. Our infrastructure, our climate, our geography all demand a specific approach with a need, if you like, to ‘tropicalise’ solutions. That Is to say that something that works for the Swiss, Dutch or German market doesn’t necessarily translate to Mexico, Brazil or Argentina. Brazil, as the biggest country in the region with 230 million people, has the critical mass alone to justify such an approach.

We also differ on economic terms to our Northern Hemisphere counterparts. If you speak to consumers in Europe, most likely there’s a willingness to pay more for the sustainable option whereas in Latin America we seek price parity. That’s not to say that we don’t care about the environment - quite the opposite - we live in a region that’s confronted with the raw realities of environmental degradation every day and are  passionate in our commitment to sustainability. However, we lack the collective purchasing power and seek affordability to increase access to all.

Industry defining solutions 

It’s these complexities that we need to understand when we approach innovative solutions. As we entered into the accelerator arena, a key consideration was to create a mutually beneficial exchange whereby we support a company as it goes through the start-up phase.  Partnering with a corporation comes with multiple benefits, notably in this case to accelerate the growth of the startups, especially within the sustainability space. Combining the speed, agility and passion of a startup with the expertise, resources and market understanding of the corporation enables us to address our sustainability goals faster.

AD Stretch was conceived from a desire to learn, to improve the process by which we innovate and to deliver industry-defining solutions that work at a regional level. We have to develop with the market in mind and by taking a regional accelerator approach, we are enabling a targeted outcome that will solve real and experienced challenges as opposed to a one-size fits all approach, regardless of where in the world the innovation comes from.