15 January 2018
 Categories: , Blog

The way you design food packaging can help your product stand out on the shelf and also affect how appealing your product is, even before anyone takes a bite. Investing in your packaging design can often make or break a product, especially with constant competition between brands.

Utilize Color

Color heavily influences the way people perceive taste and can also have the effect of stimulating appetite. Generally, if you want your packaging to stand out among other items on the shelf and appear more appetizing, stick with vibrant colors, especially warmer colors. You have to consider how your product will be displayed, especially if it will be on a retail shelf. When you consider the sea of items on store shelves, you will need a brighter color to catch attention, especially for a newer brand. Many shoppers do not spend significant amounts of time on each aisle and are likely searching for a specific product or brand. If you are competing for shelf space with popular brands, your product is unlikely to be at eye-level, further increasing the need for stand-out colors.

Make Packaging Applicable

The packaging your choose should work for the product, whether your food is sold in local shops or mass merchandisers. For example, you might be designing packaging for loaves of fresh-baked bread, which often come in paper or plastic sleeves. Since it is unlikely someone will consume an entire loaf of bread in a single meal, you might want to make sure your packaging can be resealed. Instead of a simple open sleeve, it might have a twist-tie or sticky tab so the sleeve can be sealed and keep the bread fresh longer. Similarly, if your product is generally something a person will eat in one sitting or grab-and-go, think of ways your packaging can make the customer's life easier. You might want packaging that is easy to manipulate with one hand, has a resealable lid, or leaves little residual packaging to throw away.

Appeal To Your Audience

Small adjustments in what is displayed on the front of your packaging can make your product more or less appealing to your target audience. For example, if you make energy bars, the front of your packaging should clearly state key nutrition facts. You might market some of your energy bars as high protein or low net carbs. Since your target audience is likely people who are concerned about their nutrition, they will want to know this information upfront so they can quickly pick among the many options on the shelf. Other types of information that can be especially helpful is wording geared toward people with certain dietary restrictions, such as vegans, gluten-free, or people with food intolerances.

The packaging you choose not only makes your product more attractive on the shelf, but it may also affect whether someone buys your product again. Finding ways to appeal to the type of customer you want to attract will generally help you select appropriate packaging. Visit a site like http://www.arcandco.ca for more help.