Customer destocking overstayed its welcome in 2023, as far as packaging makers were concerned. Throughout the year, company executives said customers continued to work down existing inventories as demand from inflation-pressured consumers slowed, which in turn hurt packaging sales.

While destocking originated from pandemic-era supply chain adjustments, it continued to have an impact on many companies this year. For example, Silgan CEO Adam Greenlee in July said that while destocking in recent years showed up for products like household cleaners and sanitizers that surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, ripple effects from inflation were evident “not just in the products that we sell, but in ingredients and other packaging raw materials.” The interest expense of holding inventory seemed to drive customers’ decision-making, Greenlee said.

O-I Glass CFO John Haudrich also noted in August that destocking patterns really varied by customer: “We serve many different end-use categories, all of which have different approaches on inventory.” Graphic Packaging International executives also noted in August that effects were uneven across products that do or don’t have expiration dates.

Most recently, many companies predicted destocking was winding down, but some previous predictions to that effect have also extended beyond expectations. Read on to revisit companies’ discussion of the trend through earnings reports for the first three quarters of the year. Fourth-quarter results and commentary are expected in late January and February.