According to the article, three trends of food packaging in the future are identified as safer, smarter and simpler.

- The first trend is the packaging that offers greater protection.

The first trend is the packaging offering greater content protection that provides greater product visibility at the same time. Consumers has more expectation to  see the products before they decide to pay.  

- The second trend is the packaging that provides efficient display in a variety of ways.

It is believed that the product itself becomes the centre of the display. So, the packaging should offer effective presentation of products including on hooks, shelf stacked, multi-packed or in trays to maximize in-store impact and simplify display refreshment.

- The final - and newest - trend is the simpler packaging.

The simpler packaging that uses one single material increasingly gained more preference.

An example mentioned by the article is "Chocolate bars that used to come wrapped in foil with an outer printed paper sleeve. Today, for speed and efficiency of the production, there is an increased focus on selecting the best single packaging material for the product and developing the ideal packaging solution from that one material.

Another important point is to be green.  The single packaging material is easier to recycle and the consumers have no burden separate the material.

Source: http://www.foodqualitynews.com/news/ng.asp?id=84896-octal-interpack-packaging