Packaging plays a crucial role in the food business. It’s what allows your product to stand out on the shelves. It’s also important for compliance to ensure that your products last longer. Choosing the wrong type of packaging could also influence things such as how much you have to pay for shipping, how many items you can send per shipment, and how many units are lost in transit. So, this is about more than making your product look pretty. Let’s take a look at a few signs that you may need to rethink your packaging.
You’re Using too Much Material
In the food industry, less is more. It is something that will become true for many other industries as well with rising concerns about sustainable development.
You have to be proactive and use environmentally friendly materials, but you have to make sure that you use as little as possible in the process. Waste is viewed negatively, and many customers have expressed that they dislike dealing with excessive packaging. If you want to make things easier for them and avoid criticism, strip your packaging down to its bare minimum while still being safe and providing the protection needed.
You Have a Lot of Losses
Losses can happen in many ways. Items may get damaged during transit. That’s where using proper primary, secondary, and tertiary packaging, when needed, is important. Loss from premature spoilage is another issue.
If that’s a problem you currently have to deal with and you’re not using flexible packaging, we suggest you look into it right now and see why flexible packages makes food safer. It can prevent spoilage by preventing microorganisms from getting in. Tightly sealed bags also prevent moisture and air from getting in, which are two of the main contributors to spoilage. They also have the benefit of being very resistant and easy to pack.
You’re Too Much on Trend
Yes, it’s good to look at what the competition is doing and seeing where you might be off. But it’s a major mistake to try to replicate what everyone is doing.
One thing many will do is look at packaging they like and try to reproduce the style to a tee. They now assume that their product will be well-received because the packaging looks nice and professional. What happens is that they end up looking like every other item on the shelves.
Go to any aisle in a supermarket and look at the different types of packaging and where your eyes naturally go to. You’ll often realize that it’s on the packaging that clashes with the rest. So, if the trend is for busy colorful design, going for something more stripped-down could help.
You’re Paying Too Much
If your overheads are too high and your margins are shrinking, packaging is one area where you could make cuts without affecting the final product that much. You don’t want to go for cheap packaging, but there are clever ways that you can drive down cost by maintaining quality.
One would be to go for other alternatives, like the flexible packaging we mentioned earlier. Reducing size can be a great way to cut packaging costs as well. It will also have the benefit of reducing shipping costs by allowing you to ship more at a time.
Conclusion
These are all clear signs that you may need to change your current packaging immediately. This could instantly help boost sales and brand awareness while helping you avoid complaints from customers.