What Makes for Great Food Packaging?
Whether they’re browsing the shelves at their local supermarket, looking at an advert or hovering over a grocery store chest freezer on a hot summer’s day, packaging is often a customer’s first encounter with a food product.
But food packaging plays a much bigger role than just catching the eye. Let’s take a look at why it’s important for companies to integrate durable, innovative materials into their food packaging:
It protects the product and prolongs shelf-life
Direct food contact packaging can be especially challenging. Wrappings and packaging have to be able to stand up to moisture, light, grease, bacteria and extreme temperatures, not to mention challenging delivery and storage environments. Food packaging might also need to preserve delicate aromas and flavors.
Burger clamshells, for example, need to retain heat, support moisture emissivity and protect the product inside throughout the prep process or before a burger is handed over to customers. By using materials with competitive barrier properties such as metallized paper, manufacturers can protect their products and ensure they stay fresh, appealing and safe to consume for as long as possible.
It makes their brand pop
Great food packaging should balance functionality with form. While fresh flavours will keep customers coming back for more, shelf appeal is a large part of what will entice them to pick up a product in the first place.
In an increasingly competitive food and beverages market, it’s important for companies to be able to attract consumers’ attention with eye-catching, premium materials that reflect their brand identity. For printers and converters who work directly with brands, it’s crucial that packaging materials and finishes are optimized for printing equipment, processes and inks.
It’s sustainable
Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) companies, restaurants and fast-food brands are all well aware of the role they have to play in protecting the environment for future generations. With that in mind, packaging that accurately reflects the quality of their products should not only be durable and eye-catching, it also needs to be energy-efficient to produce and recycle.
More and more food and beverage brands are therefore choosing to opt for monomaterial, recyclable packaging and labelling materials such as metallized paper, which not only enable them to stay on top of their sustainability commitments but also offer a premium look and great performance.
We’d love to help you find the right packaging for your food products. If there's anything you'd like to know, pop us a note!