The traditionally perceived role of packaging as being a medium to withstand storage and distribution challenges has come a long way globally in the last three decades.
In case of food and beverages, packaging plays a very important role, as in many instances it becomes the first ‘touch point’ for the prospective consumer to interact with the product. In addition, as consumption patterns are becoming more and more ‘glocalised’, packaging is emerging as the face of the product or even the manufacturer/ marketer of the product. Globally, especially in the emerging markets, consumers are evolving as an increasingly complex set in terms of age, gender and income. In the light of these radical shifts, in today’s world a typical package of an F&B product is also becoming much more innovative, bringing about an imminent change in the way the role of product packaging was perceived even until a few decades ago.
The ‘Prize’ of Innovation With the consumer becoming more informed, discerning and price -sensitive, packaging is fast emerging as a key differentiator at the point of purchase. It becomes a means for the consumer to validate the product’s marketing claims, compare the value propositions across different alternatives, thus, enabling them to make the eventual purchase decision. Further, innovation in food packaging has become all the more important in the light of the intensifying competitition across most of the food and beverages categories.
The modern retail revolution in India has further heightened the importance of packaging, as the new generation of Indian consumers – who have only been recently exposed to a self-selecting shopping environment – is spending considerably longer time evaluating various brand options. As the pre-purchase exposure of the brands to its prospective consumers is increasing rapidly, it is becoming important for FMCG manufacturers to introduce innovative packaging, which supports and enhances the overall value proposition of the brand. Also, as the cost of the shelf space in modern retail destinations is on the rise, manufacturers are thinking of innovative packaging concepts and solutions to optimise the return on the cost of shelf occupancy.
Will India Repackage?
At this juncture, it can be predicted with certainty that the role of packaging in food merchandising in India will undergo a lot of change in the years to come. India is considered to be at the middle of the evolution in terms of food packaging when compared with developed economies such as Japan, Germany and the US. Also, the sophistication of packaging materials and concepts varies significantly across different FMCG categories in India. Although Indian manufacturers have brought about a number of innovations in food packaging over the years, such as sachets, micro-packaging, etc, they have largely taken inspirations from the more developed Western economies to find out opportunities to differentiate their merchandise from their competitors through Packaging.
A thorough analysis of the global packaging trends in the last decade reveals four prominent trends driving the packaging innovations:
a) convenience of usage;
b) freshness and improved shelf life;
c) sustainable and eco-friendly;
d) packaging as a tool to position and promote the brand.
Although there are multiple overlaps of these trends in most of the product packaging concepts, these can be viewed as the most important themes around which packaging innovations have mostly revolved.
Convenience of Usage
Products with a packaging that offers convenience to consumers in terms of application, or by reducing the time or hassle associated with the consumption method, have been seen as a critical differentiator. With the changing lifestyles and demographics, consumers are increasingly shifting from purchasing raw or loose food products to processed food (such as ready or semi-ready meals and pre-cut salads). Challenged with the amount of disposable time for eating and cooking, consumers are looking at food products that offer convenience of consumption.
Globally, food packaging concepts have evolved in a variety of waysin order to cater to these changingneeds. Products with ready-to-microwave features or those that can fit into a cup holder or the refrigerator door exemplify this trend. Also, over the years, a number of innovations such as introduction of self-heating cans, re-sealable or pre-portioned packaging to enable multiple usage, etc, have found to have a high degree of appeal among consumers.
Improved Shelf Life
As consumers are increasingly shifting to processed food consumption and food produces are often being transported from one part of the world to another, it has become imperative to employ packaging techniques that enable the product to have longer shelf life and can offer freshness for a sustained period of time. As a result, we have seen the introduction of advanced packaging materials – films, synthetic fibres, etc – in the recent past. In addition, an increasing number of products have started using advanced packaging concepts, such as aseptic packaging, which have witnessed a mainstream acceptance in product categories such as long-life milk products, ready-to-eat products, etc.
Sustainable and Environment-friendly
At the beginning of the current century, the global F&B industry was abuzz with finding out ways to decrease the amount and perils of packaging through environment-friendly, sustainable and minimal packaging.
With the increased awareness about the environmental hazards arising out of the use of certain common packaging materials such as foam and non-recyclable plastics, marketers are actively introducing environmentfriendly and sustainable packaging solutions. They are also using this as a tool to improve or enhance the brand image of the company. As a result, in the last decade we have seena lot of FMCG products launched with recyclable, bio-degradable and minimal packaging.
A Tool to Promote and Position
Globally, packaging is increasingly seen as an important vehicle to promote and position the brand correctly. Apart from bearing the statutory information regarding pricing, ingredient composition and nutritional information, packaging these days is aimed at delivering a variety of messages to the consumer. Product usage benefits are explained in great detail – many food products have ‘suggested recipes’ on the back of the pack. Further information areas are illustrated and forums for consumer interaction are described, among other things. These help in reinforcing the image of the brand that is being built through other media channels, by highlighting and promoting certain aspects of the brand. A pack of Quaker Oats , for instance, prominently highlights the benefits of consuming oats on a regular basis to improve heart health in a fashion. New Age of Packaging? A multi-dimensional shift in food packaging in India appears imminent in the next five years.
Advanced packaging techniques and concepts, such as aseptic packaging and retortable packaging, although coming into existence steadily over the last couple of years, are yet to make a mark in India. However, with the consistent rise in the adoption of ready-to-eat/drink products, long life dairy and other perishable products in packaged form, it is expected to be only a matter of time before the Indian FMCG market gets swamped with products using advanced packaging technologies, primarily aimed at enhancing the shelf life of products and offering additional convenience to consumers in terms of storage, consumption and portioning.
