Similar to naming a food product, when creating packaging for a food product you should first consider who your audience will be. The package is the first encounter your audience will have with your product, and sometimes their first encounter with your brand. Therefore, you want to make sure the package appeals to your customer and represents your brand.
While brand recognition or visual appeal may draw your customer in initially, how will you stand out from the competition surrounding your product on the shelves? Follow our list below for ways to enhance the customer experience through food packaging, to help maintain that initial appeal and lead to a final purchase!
Purpose
What is the purpose of your food product? Next to knowing who your audience is, knowing why they need your product and how they will use it is also important. Knowing the purpose of your product will help you create packaging that enhances your customer’s experience with your brand from the beginning.
One way to determine purpose is to consider where you will sell your food product.
If you plan to sell your product in stores like Costco or Sam’s Club, your purpose is to package your food as a value product for large groups. Therefore, you are not going to create a package that has only 6 servings. However, if you plan to sell your product in an organic market in a busy city, more personalized packaging is ideal. Rather than a value sized package, you would want a package with less servings. You may create packaging for individual servings.
In addition to packaging size, the visual aspect of the package will vary depending on where you plan to sell your product. At a value store, bold and simple packaging is easy for customers to see. This enhances their experience because they can quickly shop for what they need without difficulty. On the other hand, an organic product that’s sold in a smaller store may have more intricate details on their packaging. This attracts a customer who may spend more time reading labels and looking at what they purchase; therefore, a package that has more detail and visual appeal will enhance the customer’s experience.
Ease
Customers want packaging that makes their lives easier. What “easy” looks like, will depend on your audience and purpose.
If your audience is adults with busy careers, they want food that is packaged to grab and go while they’re running from work, to the gym, and out with friends. If your audience is parents, they want food that is easy to grab for both themselves AND for their kids!
Whether for adults or kids, easy to grab should also mean easy to eat on the go. GoGo Squeez applesauce is a great example of this! Packaging that is easy to grab and easy to eat - with no mess!
Easy isn’t just about food on the go. What about the customers who just want something quick and easy to open at the end of a long work day? There is nothing worse than standing over a kitchen counter unable to get a jar open, or searching for a lost can opener when you are tired and hungry. Brands that use pop-top cans for their packaging have these customers in mind!
The easier you can make your customer’s experience with your product, the more likely they will buy it again. So, if there is only one thing you do to enhance your customer’s experience - create packaging that’s easy!
Materials
While the promise of easy access with a pop-top or resealable bag may be all your customer needs to purchase your product, there are still a couple things for you as the creator to consider.
What is your packaging made out of? The materials you use for packaging are important for keeping your product in its ideal state.
If you have a product considered a “staple” food: rice, pasta, beans, soup - your packaging needs to support a longer shelf-life. This means choosing materials to keep your product fresh for an extended period of time. In addition, you also want to create packaging that doesn’t take up a lot of space in customer’s cupboards - since it may be there awhile.
In contrast, if you have a food meant to be eaten within a few days of purchase, your focus may differ. Rather than focusing on materials that extend shelf-life, you may focus on a different customer priority - like recyclable packaging. This may seem like a small detail, but depending on your audience, recyclable packaging could impact a customer’s decision to purchase your product over a competitor’s.
Sometimes choosing the right packaging materials has nothing to do with freshness. It may simply be about what will preserve the perfection of signature style - like Pringles! Can you imagine if Pringles were just tossed in a bag like any other chip?! We would just be eating crumbs.
Experience
Every food offers an experience, and that experience begins with the packaging. When ICEY designs packaging for Lindt Chocolate, we know the packaging needs to appeal to an experience different from other chocolates.
People buy Lindt Chocolates to indulge. They want chocolate that is meant for a special occasion; chocolate that makes them feel special. With this in mind, our team enhances the customer experience by creating packaging with indulgent images of the chocolate that reflect the premiumness of the brand.
Sometimes the experience is simply to make the customer’s life easier. Other times, it’s about an experience different from the everyday.
Whether your audience is looking for an experience that’s easy or an experience that’s indulgent - the first step is to create packaging that answers the question, what experience do I want to enhance through my food product?
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