DS Smith is a leading European packaging business that focuses on the design, manufacture and supply of corrugated packaging products and solutions. In recent years, the company has focused on acquisition led growth, product innovation and supply channel development in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector, which has proved to be a successful strategy. The group now has the broadest European footprint as a supplier to FMCG groups and continues to be the leading European market consolidator with a growing record of acquisitions.
During the capital markets day, the company explained how packaging is no longer just a medium to protect and assist in basic logistics of goods. It can also engage consumers in making their decision to buy a particular product. DS Smith was early to recognise and capitalise on the value of this change by transforming the business into one that resonates with the growth strategies of its clients and not just the commodity price changes of its inputs.
The site visit in Germany also gave investors a glimpse into the group's capabilities and future growth potential in e-commerce, which extends its target client base beyond the FMCG and industrial segments to major online general retailers. However, this also presents a new set of challenges as folding boxes from flat and filling for e-commerce fulfilment are mainly manual operations in contrast to the current high volume automated lines of the FMCG groups. DS Smith will continue to make significant investment and innovation in order to realise the quality and value of this space. The group has confidently and successfully exploited opportunities in the past and it will be interesting to see how it delivers on this new prospect.
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