Packaging and package labelling have several objectives:

Physical protection - The food enclosed in the food packaging may require protection from, among other things, shock, vibration, compression, temperature, bacteria, etc.

Barrier protection - A barrier from oxygen, water vapor, dust, etc., is often required. Permeation is a critical factor in design. Some packages contain desiccants or oxygen absorbers to help extend shelf life. Modified atmospheres or controlled atmospheres are also maintained in some food packaging. Keeping the contents clean, fresh, and safe for the intended shelf life is a primary function.

On this specific function we are able to advise and select best practice materials to support any brand position or product meaning meaning the suitability of the material backs up your brand position. Hardly a good idea having lots of plastic if you're an organic natural producer

Containment or agglomeration - Small items are typically grouped together in one package to allow efficient handling. Liquids, powders, and granular materials need containment.
Information transmission - Packages and labels communicate how to use, transport, recycle, or dispose of the package or product. Some types of information are required by governments.

Type of materials, combined with best practice use of those materials dependent on the purpose will deliver cost-effective food packaging solutions.

Labelling should not be left until near the end of the project. Getting ducks in a row making sure you are legally compliant in the way you describe your ingredients not just today for what's coming up in six months time is critical to avoid a product recall. We partner with best and most informed people in the compliance sector beginning of the project to ensure you are best advised.

Marketing - The Food packaging can be used by marketers to encourage potential buyers to purchase the product. Package design has been an important and constantly evolving phenomenon for several decades. Marketing communications and graphic design are applied to the surface of the package and (in many cases) the point of sale display.

Marketing is a catch all term applied to any communication that is on the food packaging surface. You may think marketing is simply "telling it like it is" in a fancy font. It isn't. Consumers are savvy your product shares a basket with a range of other brands, both major global and small local. How do you stack up with what you are saying? Do you look like one of the pack, do you look like you belong in the shared basket?

Marketing to us is a visual and verbal wardrobe, is what your product wears when it goes to the party on the shelf. Part of our role (in an analogy) is to make sure that you are not the scary Mary or the Johnnie no mates that nobody asks to dance.

Security - Food packaging can play an important role in reducing the security risks of shipment. Packages can be made with improved tamper resistance to deter tampering and also can have tamper-evident features to help indicate tampering. Packages can be engineered to help reduce the risks of package pilferage; some package constructions are more resistant to pilferage and some have pilfer-indicating seals. Packages may include authentication seals to help indicate that the package and contents are not counterfeit. Packages also can include anti-theft devices, such as dye packs, RFID tags, or electronic article surveillance tags, that can be activated or detected by devices at exit points and require specialized tools to deactivate. Using packaging in this way is a means of retail loss prevention.

Cost-effective security on your is essential for consumer confidence. Think about it-would you buy the brand on the shelf that looks like it's been opened?

At the other end of the scale it is utterly pointless to RFID tag or Dye pack on a product costing a few pounds. Engineering security into the food packaging and balancing it with consumer friendliness when trying to open it is a multi-multi-million pound industry. We have access to best practice solutions right across the price range.

Convenience - Packages can have features which add convenience in distribution, handling, stacking, display, sale, opening, reclosing, use, and reuse.
Portion control - Single-serving packaging has a precise amount of contents to control usage. Bulk commodities (such as salt) can be divided into packages that are a more suitable size for individual households. It also aids the control of inventory: selling sealed one-litre bottles of milk, rather than having people bring their own bottles to fill themselves.

So what does the future hold for convenience? The Wikipedia article above talks about selling seal 1 L bottles of milk rather than having people bring their own bottles to fill themselves, how much longer will this go on for as a consumer rebellion against plastic bottles continues. Major brands such as Coca-Cola and invested heavily in bottles made from plant-based materials, recyclability and reduction in superfluous (or perceived superfluous) packaging will continue to be a consumer driven concern. Making your food packaging deliver best presentation, best convenience, best handling, all combined with best marketing representation of the product that can be seen as uniquely yours yet still part of a familiar range of shared basket items is a skill we have developed over many years.

We love to talk food and food packaging so feel free to get in touch, or take a look at our food packaging clients these are all companies that are just like you from the very biggest to the very smallest each one of them started out somewhere ( ones were working on now are JUST starting out on that small batch product).

Take a look at what our clients say to hear it straight from them!

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Contact us using this form to talk about your food brand challenges- we are ready to listen

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