Wholesale Custom Printed Food Packaging | Cost Saving Tips
Let’s start with the food. In fine dining, there is a term called ‘food plating.’ It’s truly an art form and it is often a significant part of the overall dining experience. It’s also an essential strategy for marketing. Just think about the last time you skimmed your social channels. How many friends and family members shared pictures of dinner at their favorite eatery? How many marveled at how pretty the dish looked and how tasty the meal was? Every image shared about a dining experience leads to thousands of impressions and organic word-of-mouth marketing.
Well just as food plating is important for restaurants, so too is food packaging important for food manufacturers and wholesalers. If your company sells food products wholesale to retailers, there are several tips to consider that will help you make the best packaging decision and beat out the competition.
First things first – Start with the packaging goal
Before diving into packaging design it’s important to determine the packaging goal. Food Packaging has a specific goal that goes beyond protecting and storing the product. For example, a brand new product may need to be introduced to the world through marketing and so your packaging plays a big role in helping to reach this goal. In this case, it would be important to share the benefits of the product, how it is used, and why it’s different than your competitors. For established products, the packaging space can be used for the goal of growing the brand and focus on getting more of the market share.
Next, explore food packaging design elements
Once you know the goal of the packaging, designing the packaging becomes much easier. Many types of foods will also use a specific or industry-standard type of packaging. Think of a loaf of bread. It’s common to find loaf after loaf in a plastic bag-like packaging. The design strategy in this case would be to consider ways to make your loaf of bread stand out among the rows and rows of other loaves.
Food packaging design is a powerful marketing tool for capturing a customer’s attention. The best designs evoke emotions with customers like how a popcorn box makes you think of movie night or a cereal box brings back memories of breakfast with your siblings. The packaging is a blank canvas for images, color diversity, and visual elements – all of which can be used for storytelling, messaging, and branding. The packaging is also the ideal place for logo positioning to strengthen brand recognition.
Examples of retail-ready packaging. What items stand out to you and why?
If we go back to our loaf of bread example, the manufacturer of a new fresh-baked artisan bread product needing to create awareness could use colors and messaging to draw customers. A butter-yellow color on the packaging with images of fresh bread from the oven, and truthful messaging about how the bread is made would make for an emotion-evoking design.
Add competitive research and pricing research to your design decisions
Unless your food product is a high-end product or is very different than your competitors, there is an average market price point for the product. Consumers will pay more for fresh ingredients, organic ingredients, and high-demand, specialty items. Food packaging is a part of the overall cost of producing the food, so it is important to consider the costs of material in your design. Make sure that any extra design elements you choose will resonate with the consumer and help increase sales. These include features like foil stamping, critical colors, and special coatings.
Food Packaging Tip: If certain packaging design features will ensure your product stands out in the crowd, you can decrease the overall cost by ordering higher volumes of the packaging.
Tell the truth in your messaging and turn to the experts
The food industry is regulated by the FDA. The FDA regulates the safety of substances added to food and also how the food is processed, packaged, and labeled. On one hand, you want your packaging to stand out, but on the other hand, it must comply with FDA regulations. Because of the regulations, there is a high cost when things are forgotten or missed. It can lead to product recalls and relabeling. Because the regulations are a lot to navigate, it can be more economical to work with a designer who specializes in food packaging or a packaging company that offers in-house food packaging design expertise and specializes in food packaging. At the very least, an industry expert can serve as a fresh pair of eyes for your design to make sure you are in full compliance.
Do your due-diligence with design testing
Once you’ve finalized your packaging design, you’ll receive a proof from the printer. The design process may also include reviewing the dieline and a 3D rendition of the package. Custom food packaging is an important investment. So, do your due diligence and order a printed sample that you can take to a retailer and compare it to your competitors. That way, if you need to make any changes, you can do it before ordering thousands of the packaging. Additionally, when you have finalized the design, consider doing a short run of the packaging where you buy just enough for a test market. Once that is successful, you are ready to buy in bulk for wholesale distribution.