Critical Food Packaging Design Recommendations

Product packaging can serve as a crucial point of competitive differentiation for brands that utilize it to their advantage.

As we know, the primary goal of food packaging design is to encourage customers to select the item from the retail shelf and add it to their cart. It’s a simple concept that belies the complexity of packaging design. With our consumer-oriented culture and global supply chains offering customers thousands of choices in the grocery store, brands must work harder than ever to stand out through the noise.

Food Packaging Recommendations

Packaging influences brand value. With this in mind, food packaging must convey the value proposition of your product. Sure, it needs to look good, but its primary goal is to facilitate communication between the brand and the consumer: buyers need a reason to choose your product over the one sitting next to it on the shelf. All packaging must clearly and honestly state the benefits of the product in an eye-catching way.

To accomplish this, brands must have a clear understanding of their products, target markets, and how their offerings differ from those of the competition. We’re talking, here, about brand identity—the strategic positioning that your company identifies with and that drives your growth. This overarching factor will influence each of the packaging decisions to come:

Food Safety

Food packaging decisions must ensure that the product reaches the customer intact from the manufacturer. Design considerations aside, this is the number one goal of food packaging.

Packaging Style

Food safety is a given, but the packaging style chosen affects more than just the safety of the contents. Different types of packages will ship differently and may create logistic headaches for the transportation and distribution partners in the supply chain. The chosen packaging style will ideally keep food fresh while being easy to transport.

Product Information

There’s a fine line in packaging between minimalist design and overloading the customer with information. Your packaging should convey the key value proposition of the product without overwhelming customers with a wall of text. For example, if your coffee is organic, be sure to let them know! But don’t go too far with this. Customers don’t need to know that the beans were grown on the shady side of the hill.

Shelf Appeal

What makes customers want to pick this item instead of your competitor’s? Shelf aesthetics are a significant consideration in packaging design, and there’s no one correct answer. Some brands use high-contrasting colors and wild fonts to catch the eye. Many use images of the product itself or brand mascots (a la Jolly Green Giant). These considerations should align with your brand identity, as described above, and provide clear distinctions between your products and those of the competition.

Packaging That Sells

Overall, the most critical takeaway for designing food packaging that sells is to feature all relevant information that highlights how your product is differentiated from others on the shelf. Knowing your market is key. Here, if packaging designers understand what motivates their target audience, they’ll know which elements to include to encourage them to make a purchase.

Data-Driven Brand Development

Want a best-selling brand? SmashBrand is a brand development and packaging design agency for FMCG and CPG companies. From brand strategy to packaging design testing, our Path To Performance™ process guarantees a retail performance lift. Book a time to discuss your project with our team.