New Year a Perfect Time for New Packaging

Food packaging suppliers are gearing up for a busy start to the New Year. This is typically the time of year when their clients review their current packaging and, in many cases, decide that it needs a make-over. A new year brings with it new colours, designs and customer expectations. With competition so fierce, no supplier of food products can assume that their customers will keep coming back unless they are kept interested.

It is no secret that consumers use all five senses when they are shopping and making decisions about what to buy. How often have they been drawn to a bakery simply by the smell of freshly baked bread? Having that bread and the other bakery products clearly displayed in wide cases behind sparkling, clean glass panels now engages their sense of sight as well as smell. When their chosen purchases are then handed to them in cleverly designed, colourful packaging, they will remember this particular shopping experience long after the food has been consumed.

Packaging Now Part of the Point of Difference

This is exactly what retailers need to keep shoppers coming back to their particular business. Consumers have a staggering array of choices and can spend their money anywhere they like. Often, many products on offer are very similar to each other, and it has become increasingly difficult to find a specific point of difference. This makes the packaging an important part of the total retail experience.

Clever food packaging suppliers know this, and try to engage as many of the five senses as possible when designing their products. Tactile people love the way a product feels in their hands when they pick it up. It may have a textured feel to the packaging, or it could be made of that very soft plastic that feels like talcum powder. Couple this with a crisp logo, bright colours and bold lettering, and this product will stand out.

Other consumers like the sound of paper and love picking up those small brown bags and putting fresh mushrooms into them. The mushrooms make a distinctive sound when they drop into the bag, and this is followed by a rustling sound as the shopper closes the bag. It’s just a plain, brown bag but everyone buying fresh mushrooms looks for it. Brightening up the fairly bland picture of a mushroom on the bag would delight the customer at their next outing and keep them coming back.

This is the power of the psychology behind consumer packaging. It is not just a matter of finding the cheapest and quickest way of keeping the product fresh. Now in this tight retail market it is about finding new and creative ways to engage the shoppers, and get them back time and time again. Now is the perfect time to see if your packaging has become bland and boring.