It is there, always, sometimes it goes unnoticed, however, it also heavily influences purchases. Because it says a lot about the brand and the content, more than we normally perceive. Beyond its practical aspect, package design has greatly evolved over the years, and continues to do so amid new technologies and new lifestyles. Here are eight trends that will influence food industry packaging in 2016.
1- Green and sustainable
Made from natural and biodegradable materials (or even edible themselves), environmentally friendly, with limited paper or plastic content: increasingly there is awareness among customers of the “heaviness” of packaging, for the environment and at CO2 production. So this is the most important trend and destined to stay, not least because it appeals toMillennials. The most innovative side, on the other hand, is high tech and concerns “time-based” packaging, that is, packaging that dissolves without harm to the environment the moment the food (ice cream, oil, juice) is opened and used, as in Tomorrow Machine prototypes. Or like Quantum’s ice cream beads, with a coating that protects against contamination with the outside and does not let out the contents designed like a vegetable or fruit peel (from which it is inspired). The materials, which are innovative, are electrostatic gels but use natural substances such as polysaccharides, but also agar-agar, seaweed, caramelized sugar or wax.
2- Customized
We have seen this with Nutella and Coca Cola, which have put their own names on the packaging. Waitrose at Christmas, in addition to the name, also personalized coolers with customers’ last names. And in the future there will be an increasing push to make the item unique in some way. New digital printing techniques allow this. Not only that: as on-sight, on-the-spot and in-the-moment processing (as in the new Carrefour in Mons) from beer to bread to juices will become increasingly common, expiration date labels could become part of packaging that speak of the sign, the product or even who made the item (as Lush does with its products). But, also, leaving space for a handwritten label “made fresh for ….” creates that sense of human connection and increases engagement with the brand on an emotional level.
3- Reusable
Circular economy this is your time. Creating reusable packaging has a triple benefit: it is sustainable because nothing is thrown away, it attracts the eye because the “containers” are often original and aim for genre contamination (e.g., baby onesies in Jammies’ glass jars) or they are “useful,” such as the wine box that becomes a wine cellar rack for Aquilegia. Finally, what remains recalls and facilitates a connection with the brand.
4- Connected
A connection, that between brand and consumer, that is pursued and beyond facilitated through the use of technologies that can send messages and content to the consumer, such as QR codes, NFC, RFID, beacons. Varied examples among spirits such as Remy Martin and Diageo. All, through an app, allow the producer to track each bottle and the consumer to verify its authenticity and also to make sure the bottle has not already been opened. Special offers and content are then conveyed for the same medium.
5- Vintage
Increasingly seen around-and the trend will continue-packaging that harkens back to days gone by. Colorful like 50s and 60s aesthetics or with an artisanal, “homemade” look, they stimulate the consumer’s longing for good old times or childhood memories, but also give a sense of uniqueness and originality, somewhat limited-edition (even when it’s not).
6- Takeaway
Lifestyles are changing, and consumption occasions are becoming increasingly fluid, expanding throughout the day and in various places. So packaging must be able to follow the consumer, who has become somewhat nomadic, on his or her rounds between home, office, sports and entertainment. Classic example are the boxes, the picnic boxes of the new millennium:innovative, above all practical and therefore easy to open and that are able to withstand transportation and even some extra jolting without damage to the contents. McDonalds is looking ahead and in Denmark, home of cyclists, has come up with a box designed for their commute (available in Copenhagen at its “drive-in” for cyclists).
7- Transparent
“To touch,” to see, to know what you are buying and what the ingredients are: transparent packaging should not only allow you to see the product but also tells the customer that the company is open and willing to share information about the origin and provenance of its items.
They are transparent containers that let the product breathe, if necessary, with a minimalist design to leave room for the real protagonist, the food. Which must not be damaged by light, of course, Countless examples but among the most original are Okamoto Farm’s soup containers. Which in addition to being transparent are also soft.
8- “Kind and funny”
A package can also convey serenity or cheerfulness, sending messages that the consumer perceives as positive-a ray of sunshine on a gray day. A technique that has become somewhat of a “trademark” of New Zealand packaging specialist Innocent, which offers coffee cups that say “I’m hot.”
But many experts believe that this kind of approach will spread, as will examples of the genre. Because we all need to smile, at all times of the day, and if the choice is right, the brand definitely gains in image. And it gets remembered.
Anna Munzio
instoremag.it
