How to Turn Packaging into a Business Growth Driver
The health and wellness market is growing at a rapid pace – and it takes more than good quality, great taste and improved benefits to stand out. With today’s informed consumer, having a great product is often not enough – especially when facing inflation, economic uncertainty and private label competition.
Make sure you’re not overlooking one of the most crucial elements for the growth of your product. Whether it’s for a powder, pills, liquid or gummies, packaging can be a real game changer. Let’s look at four ways your packaging can accelerate strong growth.
1. Innovative Design
Packaging is your first chance to make a great impression on consumers. Does it catch the eye on the shelf with a unique shape or features?
Baiting that first hook is important. But an innovative packaging design can keep working on consumers long after that – in its ease of use, the way it feels, and how well it protects the product.
As part of the design process, it’s critical to work with your packaging supplier and filling and co-packaging partner to identify complexities associated with the filling process. While some packaging types are inherently more difficult to fill – take stick packs, for example – the right filler will focus on problem solving and innovation to ensure your vision becomes a reality.
Packaging that helps deliver a complete, satisfying experience throughout the life of the product fosters brand loyalty and goes a long way to drive the growth of every CPG brand.
2. Sustainable Materials
Today’s consumers want more environmentally friendly packaging.
About half of U.S. consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging, according to a 2023 McKinsey survey[1]. In the same survey, 43 percent said environmental impact is an extremely or very important packaging characteristic when making purchasing decisions.
Meanwhile, rising public awareness about packaging waste is driving new regulations around the world. It’s time to get familiar with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) initiatives. Manufacturers up and down the supply chain must improve their ability to reduce waste, increase use of sustainable materials, assess their own operations for efficiencies and more.
These changes aren’t easy. Sustainable material alternatives look, feel and perform differently from the plastics everyone’s familiar with – particularly when they are being filled. These materials also present new challenges in printing, product integrity and more.
It’s crucial to work with suppliers who have expertise in working through these issues. The trend toward sustainable packaging is just getting started, and the brands that get ahead of it will be the ones that take the lead in the years ahead.
3. Food Safety & Quality
Food safety also weighs heavily on consumers’ minds today, with 75 percent1 rating it extremely or very important.
Packaging is key to protecting food safety while extending shelf life. While quality is critical at every stage of the production process, it is most critical during the filling process. As the last step in the process before product is distributed to retailers, your co-packaging partner must guarantee product integrity, accuracy and quality.
Look for quality certifications that provide third-party credibility to your co-packager’s commitment to food safety. For example, WePackItAll holds certifications including:
- NSF – public health standards that help protect the world’s food, water, consumer products and environment
- SQF – Global Safe Quality Food program
- ASQ – American Society for Quality
- GMP – Good Manufacturing Practices for food safety
- NSF Certified for Sport – quality control for sports supplements
- Organic – via Quality Assurance International and Organic Certifiers
When you work with partners who hold these certifications and have experience filling your product, you gain peace of mind that quality is a top-priority – protecting product integrity, increasing customer satisfaction and driving repeat sales.
4. Compelling Merchandising
The demand for less-expensive private label products is stronger than ever. Nearly 80% of U.S. adults reported they’d previously bought or considered buying private-label products.[2]
Strong merchandising – displays, trays, unit cartons, etc. – is a great way to fight back. With the right packaging, you can help your product look great on the shelf and make it easier for retailers to sell it. For example, you can group products in single-serve multipacks and variety packs that today’s grab-and-go consumers love.
Packaging can boost sales beyond brick and mortar, too. Online CPG sales shot up 30% in 2022[3], and there’s still plenty of room to grow. Specialty label applications and kitting can prep products for online retailers like Amazon.
Working with an experienced filling and co-packaging partner can also drive efficiency during this process. Once filled, individual packages can be immediately assembled into retail displays or trays, inner shippers, unit cartons, variety packs and more, readying them for the physical and/or virtual shelf and leaving you more time to focus on other key areas of your business.
Is Your Product the Total Package?
From design and materials to filling and merchandising, your packaging has the potential to unlock strong growth. But these are complex issues. And you have enough challenges already, as you strive to perfect your product and your brand.
With nearly 50 years of industry-specific experience serving health and wellness brands, WePackItAll has proven to be the filling and co-packaging expert for brands at every stage of growth.
Offering deep technical expertise, state-of-the-art capabilities and an unrelenting commitment to customer success, we deliver solutions that grow brands and businesses.
So if you want advice in any of these areas from a proven package filling expert or are looking to accelerate your packaging’s growth, talk to our team of experts at WePackItAll today.
[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/paper-forest-products-and-packaging/our-insights/sustainability-in-packaging-us-survey-insights
[2] https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/cpg-brands-lose-market-share-private-labels-consumers-focus-on-price-tag
[3] https://coresight.com/research/us-cpg-sales-tracker-online-cpg-growth-passes-30-for-the-first-time-in-2022/