Packaging is almost an underdog in the food industry. It is not considered important ‘enough’. Nor do I see much dialogue around it in different channels. The focus is squarely on ingredients, innovation, and the like.
I have always felt that the right packaging can make or mar a brand. Truly! This is why when I came across a tweet by Mr Debashis Basu a Chartered Accountant, a veteran journalist and columnist, and the author of several business books, I decided to amplify it.
I found it interesting because it spoke about the unusual way mega brand Amul was selling its new protein powder. While he had all good things to say about the product (I haven’t tried it yet so I am going by Mr Basu’s word here), he wondered why it was being sold just from the company’s website. His view was that today when a fast-paced e-commerce experience is the norm, long waiting periods might put off buyers. He has a point here but maybe we can discuss that in another column soon because here I wish to highlight the second point that he made, and which got many others (including me) excited on Twitter.
Mr Basu questioned the wisdom of 'only' selling individual sachets packed in a box, and not offering any other packing option. No bottles, no jars. He also felt giving a shaker free with every box was a waste. “This is a product of daily use. In a month you will order another box. Another shaker. Six months later you will have six of them,” he opined.
Again right. But I am going to skip discussing the merits/demerits of this gifting strategy also for now, as this column's primary focus and interest is on packaging and how it (right or wrong) can make a difference.
Mr Basu felt that some things had not been thought through in consumers' interest by the brand. Some agreed with him while others pointed out how small sachet packaging was helpful during travel. Interesting discussion there. (LINK is at the end; do read all the comments/replies to the tweet).
I decided to speak to Rinka Banerjee, Founder of Thinking Forks who has extensive experience in Food & Beverages to understand the importance of the right packaging for both the brands and consumers, and have crunched below some of the winning points that she made during the interview.
Brand value
A key role of packaging is to provide product safety, integrity, and quality over a product’s shelf life. However, packaging is also the consumers' first interaction with a brand and product. It can tell a lot about the brand value.
When brands take care of the packaging material they use and focus on ease of use and quality, it tells you volumes about the effort a brand has put in to ensure a great consumer experience.
Some D2C companies use packaging as a great way to have a premium, unboxing experience for consumers, which gives a better value perception - and is a great value add.
Out of the Box ideas
In India we unlocked the growth in F&B through popular price segments of Rs. 1, 2, 5, and 10 via the pack size play, making large global brands of products extremely affordable. This is a smart strategy and can still be exploited going forward too.
Urban young Indian consumers are interested in healthy food for example nuts, seeds, dry fruits etc. These can be expensive so using smaller pack sizes for little hunger moments, and healthier snacks using nuts, seeds, dry fruits, etc could be a big game changer for Indians to consume better foods.
Think Environment
With the growing online retail presence, last-mile delivery and user experience is highly dependent on the kind of packaging used. The challenge here is the excessive use of packaging for delivering even a small quantity of material online. It is extremely ‘critical’ that online players use recyclable, reusable, sustainable materials.
Worldwide a generation of new businesses in the retail and food service industries are working to tackle the root causes of plastic waste by creating business models that minimise the use of single-use plastic packaging or eliminate it. We in India need to begin thinking along these lines. (Look out for a column on how to be an environment-friendly brand soon)
Future-ready
One big challenge in India on the packaging is that all retailers expect shelf life to be at least 70% on the shelf. This means products have to have a long shelf life. Long shelf does have an impact on the overall nutritional quality of a food in comparison with fresh. It is something we should think about. How can we retail shorter shelf life but fresher products to consumers?
I am glad to open up the discussion on packaging. Do share your thoughts on this. I'm looking forward to references of companies doing great with packaging.
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