A major trend feeding the growth of active and intelligent packaging for dairy is the demand for longer shelf life. For retailers this demand results from product loss due to shrink, which includes product going out of date code, which runs at between 2-5% in the United States. Addressing shrink by adding even a few days shelf life through Extended Shelf Life (ESL) technologies including UV photopurification, could save retailers hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and thus help to increase the profitability of the category. For consumers the demand stems from an increasing desire for fresh and unaltered foods. In addition to standard ESL technologies, RFID tags by enabling the accurate tracking and tracing of product throughout the supply chain could play a role in both increasing efficiency as well as increasing sustainability. Printing with thermochromic inks could indicate if a product has suffered temperature abuse as well as the best temperature for consumption by consumers, while biosensors could indicate if a product has spoiled and should be discarded. Printable electronics will lower the cost of technology as such biosensors or RFID tags. This presentation will cover the impact of these technologies through the use of case studies and industry concepts and examples from around the world.