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Packaging plays a significant role in the effectiveness of new products, and there is a lot more than you would expect that goes into the creation of product packaging. Make the go-to-market effort easier by understanding and addressing these five key aspects of packaging for food products.
So you have turned your passion into a business and developed your dream product. You are probably thinking that the hardest part is over, right? Think again! Many challenges and obstacles arise between product production and getting your product into the hands of the customer. One of the most challenging tasks is the development of packaging for your product. Particularly in the food and beverage industry, products are sensitive to the wear and tear brought on by the supply chain before ending up on the table of the consumer. This means many opportunities for your product to be negatively impacted or spoil completely from exposure to a wide range of harsh external elements. Most brands end up putting just as much thought and effort into the development of adequate packaging for their food products as the products themselves to address those challenges and concerns. Momar is a full service flexible packaging manufacturer that offers custom package design and graphics services with a complete knowledge of all packaging materials and a focus on detail-oriented customer service, and we are here to help you simplify the product packaging design process with a few key areas that you should focus on.
Packaging plays a significant role in the effectiveness of new products, and there is a lot more than you would expect that goes into the creation of product packaging. It goes far beyond connecting a container and a lid with some type of adhesive. Brands work closely with packaging manufacturers to identify the conditions required to achieve a desired shelf life and carefully calculate what level of performance is needed to ensure its product will maintain peak freshness throughout the supply chain and into the consumer’s hands.
Here are the top five things that you should be considering in the product packaging decision process:
Let’s get into a little more detail about each of these key aspects of your packaging for food products.
One of the first questions you will be asked is, “What product are you packaging?” This is critical for a manufacturer to understand in the packaging design process as it will help to identify the materials and adhesives that are viable solutions for your product type. It will also guide the engineer with regard to performance, as solids, liquids and gases all behave very differently in different environments.
The next key piece of information that is absolutely critical for you to know and provide to your packaging manufacturer is your desired shelf life. Does your product need to be shelf stable for a month or over a year? The type of product, as described above, works hand in hand with shelf life as well. For example, some products are prepared and processed in a way that prevents them from spoiling for extended periods of time even if exposed to air or moisture, while other products will spoil within hours if they are exposed. Understanding your products composition and the desired lifespan will guide the packaging engineer in the selection of materials and adhesives to achieve a specific level of performance that will return the desired results.
We now know what will be packaged and how long the packaging should keep it fresh, but we are missing how it will be packaged, how it will be opened and whether it must have other features that allow it to better contain, display or dispense your product. In other words, how must the packaging function to complement your product. This is not always something that is immediately known or understood by the product brand owner, but a knowledgeable packaging manufacturer should be able to help you figure this out. You may need to answer questions such as:
After you address the first three items you are pretty close to a complete package that will perform to the exact specification needed to meet your product distribution needs. However, without addressing aesthetics you may have trouble marketing your product against the competition. In virtually every corner of the food and beverage market there are dozens, if not more, competitor products sitting on the shelf right next to your product. So you need to figure out how to stand out in a crowd to convert sales more quickly and effectively. You will want to work with a manufacturer that offers robust printing capabilities so you can apply customized graphics that catch the attention of the consumer. This can be the difference between success and failure of all your hard work creating a product.
It’s impossible to predict every challenge that you and your product will encounter on its path from your facility to the end consumer. However, understanding your supply chain and your growth goals may help you identify some possibilities that could show up. Working with an experienced and knowledgeable manufacturer, like Momar, will make addressing these “unknowns” much easier.
Momar works closely with its customers to address these potential problems before they occur and can quickly identify a solution if they do. For example, Momar was asked to assist with solving an issue in which a customer’s packaging was bursting when it was shipped via air travel due to the change in pressure. Momar quickly modified the seal die in order create a channel for trace amounts of air to escape, which solved the problem and allowed the brand to continue to ship their product.
With the trend of environmentally friendly food and packaging on the rise, some of Momar’s customers have decided to switch container materials to something that is recyclable or compostable, or another more environmentally friendly option. Whatever the change, brands trust Momar to help them achieve their sustainability goals by altering the lidding or seal composition in order to ensure the new materials achieve the same performance goals originally identified for the product.
Addressing the 5 areas listed above is critically important for your food product packaging design, and finding the right lidding and packaging manufacturer to assist with identifying and executing the right strategy will make your life as a brand owner significantly easier. Momar is very well equipped, in terms of our team’s experience and knowledge, and our equipment, to address each aspect of your product packaging.
For more detail about Momar’s lidding capabilities for food product packaging and to download our lidding capabilities spec sheet click here.
We acquire and operate packaging manufacturers while maintaining continuity throughout the existing business structures. Field has more than 75 years of operating expertise and experience in the packaging industry.
