06 August 2018, 13:25 PM
  • The food and drink sector has seen rapid growth in recent years, with UK consumer spend at £230 billion in 2016 according to The Department for International Trade. This has driven strong demand for new food and drink products, including the trendiest tipple and convenience foods, to more health-focused alternatives.

    Getting food and drink items from production to store is paramount for business success, and product packaging for transit, shelf ready and retail display also plays an important role in the retailing of these provisions.

    So you’ve manufactured your food and drink products and they have been put into their containers, boxes, pouches and bottles - how do you ensure your goods hit the spot in the supermarkets? Kate Hulley, Managing Director of Belmont Packaging Ltd explains

1. Ensure your food and drink packaging is fit for purpose
Shelf ready packaging and retail ready packaging is often overlooked at the early stages of new product development, and it’s only when products are ready to go to a store that packaging buyers arrange this type of packaging. It’s important to understand what size, strength, volume, print finish and purpose of packaging you require to keep your products safe and secure when shipping to retailers. For example shelf ready packaging takes your products from warehouse to shelf in just one box. This may be beneficial from a marketing perspective and may save on labour costs because the boxes of goods can be put straight on the shelf in the store. Alternatively, retail ready packaging refers to the outer transit box for your food and drink items. When choosing this type of packaging, guidelines stipulated by the Institute of Grocery Distribution should be followed ensuring that your items are easy to; identify, open, merchandise, buy and recycle.

2. Use your packaging as a marketing tool
Food and drink packaging is an amazing way to publicise your brand and influence consumers to buy
your products. Designed to showcase your brands’ logo, values and even a special seasonal promotion, shelf ready packaging allows you to differentiate yourself from the competition on the supermarket shelf. What’s more, your branding is recognisable to consumers, and the way in which your packaging is designed and printed, such as the use of colour, can have a great impact on consumer buying behaviour. 93% of consumers say the visual appearance of the product is an important factor, with 85% of consumers saying they are heavily influenced by colour according to Insights in Marketing.

3. Get quality packaging made to represent your brand
First impressions count, not only for consumers but for retailers too, which is why investing in high-quality corrugated cardboard packaging is a must for getting your items from warehouse to store safely. What’s more, not only will quality shelf ready packaging or retail ready packaging protect and support your goods in transit, it will represent your brand, its values and ultimately the quality of your products.

4. Printed packaging so your products fly off the shelf
Packaging that captures the imagination of consumers and advertises your brand and its values can be achieved through printed packaging. The use of colour, design, logos and graphics are a great way to attract new customers and instil a perceived value of your goods with consumers. As well as being aesthetically attractive, functionality with the design and print of your food and drink packaging should be well-thought-out. For example, if you have a design in mind, will this print well onto shelf ready packaging boxes? Where will the folds be, will part of the box be torn away? Also, how many colours do you require printing on the cardboard box? Do you want a particular finish or a vanish including?

The Department for International Trade also says states that supermarkets add 8,500 new products to their shelves each year, so it’s important that the design and print of your packaging stands out from the crowd.