Thorsten Knappe, Head of R&D Styling at Henkel joins the ADF Innovation Awards jury

November 13, 2023

“I love innovation, creativity, and boldness – as a jury member I hope to see surprising and inspiring ideas” says Thorsten Knappe, Head of R&D at Henkel.

We are delighted to announce that Thorsten is joining our prestigious ADF Innovation Awards jury. The most prestigious innovation awards in its markets, the ADF Innovation Awards are an annual celebration of the world’s best innovations in aerosols and dispensing systems.

Thorsten joins an influential group of jury members including experts from brands like KAO, Beiersdorf, COTY and more.

Tell us a bit about yourself:

I was born 53 years ago in Hamburg, have a wife, two children and a small dog. I love my family, sports, and good food and even after more than 25 years in the cosmetics industry, I am still enthusiastic and passionate when I talk about our products.

Why did you decide to join the Paris Packaging Week jury?

I love innovation, creativity, and boldness – as a jury member I hope to see surprising and inspiring ideas.

What are you most excited about the event in January 2024?

Meeting people as well as looking for inspiration for the future of our business.

What trends do you think will be highlighted in the aerosol industry in the next 12 months?

I anticipate further ideas and implementations for more sustainable products.

The profile of your customers is constantly changing. How do you think the customer profile will evolve over time? And how important is it to assess your current client?

The profile of our customers has always changed. Trends come and go – consumer behaviour changes due to various influences. If I knew the future, that would be nice.. as this is not the case, it remains essential to communicate with consumers and develop an understanding in order to make the best possible assumptions about the evolvement.

What do you see as the key challenges for your sector?

More sustainable products in an environment of rising costs and inflation are a decisive factor for me. Henkel’s slogan “Pioneers at heart for the good of generations” fits well here.

What are you most looking forward to in the year ahead?

I’m looking forward to the European Football Championship in Germany – things can’t go on as badly as they have for the last few years…. 😉

To you, what’s the ‘ideal’ pack of the future?

For me, the “ideal” packaging is the one that is not needed. However, packaging-free products are not possible everywhere, so packaging should either be reused or at least truly recycled.

What’s been the impact of sustainability on NPD and packaging design?

At every stage of product development, we think about how we can create more sustainable products without sacrificing performance. That was different 10 years ago.