Food packaging and marketing is one of the important components of the food industry.
This is because it can significantly impact the sales success of a food product in a fiercely competitive market.
With that in mind, it becomes imperative to explore the meaning and importance of food packaging and marketing.
Simply put, food packaging is an essential part of food marketing that occurs after a food company is done with its research, and the processing phase of a food item; and then presents the finished product to the consumer in a visually distinctive and often appealing form.
However, for many food companies, one of the first things taken into consideration during packaging is the type of message they want to pass across to their potential consumers. This is where the concept of marketing comes into play.
Marketing is essentially an activity that is aimed at creating awareness, thereby arousing interest in a product, a service or an idea, to elicit the desired sales response from the target audience.
The marketing environment in the Nigerian economic space has undergone rapid changes due to the transition from a controlled to a free market economy, from protection to competition, from isolation to globalisation and from obsolescence to innovation.
This is because the consumer today, via greater access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT), is better informed, more demanding and choosy, when purchasing a product.
Nevertheless, with the increase in access to technology, options in products and realms of communication, which include television, radio, internet and social networking; more and more companies are finding it increasingly difficult to be noticed and recognised because buyers have a vast exposure of products to choose from, and it is hard to stand out.
Thus, for new brands, awareness has to be generated and a favourable predisposition in the minds of the potential consumers has to be created, while established brands also need promotional efforts to defend their position.
As a result, business concerns, particularly food companies are spending more and more on marketing.
However, research has revealed that many consumers are attracted to and make purchasing decisions based on the visual appearance of a food product and its labelling.
This makes it imperative that food companies when packaging a food item, take the appearance of their product into consideration.
Moreover, it is important to note that food processing and packaging play a big role in ensuring that a food item is safe for consumption.
This means that the packaging of a food item must also take into consideration, the preservation of its quality after processing, and also enable its safe and efficient distribution, irrespective of distance, from the point of production, till it reaches the final consumer.
This implies that food packaging is successful if it protects a food item from physical, chemical and biological alterations while serving as an aesthetic ‘container’ for the food as well as providing consumers with its ingredients and nutritional information.
Reasons and Importance of Food Packaging
1. Protection:
One of the major aims of the packaging of a food item is to ensure its safety during transportation and to protect the item from all types of external alteration.
Therefore, when packaging a food product, it is done in such a way that it retains the quality of the food item, and guarantees a safe and prolonged shelf-life.
To attain this, the food industry has to ensure that the food package protects the food item from:
a. Change in its chemical composition. These types of changes are often caused by environmental factors like light, gases and moisture, among others. Light can lead to a reduction in the quality of the food nutrients and cause the formation of odd odours and poisonous substances.
Gases like oxygen can cause oxidation, which leads to spoilage of the food item. Moisture may corrode metallic and paper packages, leading to the deterioration and contamination of the food item.
b. Physical alteration: Food packaging should be able to protect the food item from physical changes, and make any alterations obvious.
This saves consumers from making use of already-tempered products.
c. Insects and rodents: Food packaging should be able to protect products from insects and rodents and also help maintain the shelf-life of a product.
2. Information:
Food packages are expected to carry information about the nutrients and ingredients contained in a food item. This helps consumers make purchasing decisions in case they are allergic to any of its ingredients, for example, vegans and diabetics.
Food packages also provide information about the manufacturing company, its authenticity, production and expiration dates, and other important information that needs to be passed across to the consumer.
This ensures that the consumer is perfectly aware of what they are buying and helps them make purchasing decisions.
3. Identification and Promotion:
Packaging of a food item makes it easier for consumers to identify a particular product compared to other products.
Without the food packaging, customers would not be able to distinguish between the various food products in a store.
So, food packaging is a form of advertisement that makes a product unique or different from another. The more aesthetically pleasing a product’s packaging looks, the higher the chances of it getting picked in a food market or store.
4. Preservation:
The secure wrapping or packaging of a food product preserves it for a long time.
The shelf life of a food product diminishes after the package is removed.
Types of Materials Used for Food Packaging
Different types of materials can be used when packaging food items. The type of food item and levels of packaging determine what would be most suitable for wrapping or packaging.
There are mainly two types of packaging:
- Primary packaging
- Secondary packaging
1. Primary Packaging:
It is the package that comes in close or direct contact with the food item.
The primary package protects and preserves the individual unit of the food product while providing detailed information about the product.
2. Secondary Packaging:
It is used to store smaller packages of food items.
It never comes in direct contact with the food product and its main purpose is to protect the food item during transportation to its wholesale or retail environment.
Common Materials Used for Primary and Secondary Packaging of Food Items
1. Glass:
Glass is one of the oldest materials used for packaging food items. Glass is mostly used to package liquid food products, but it can also be used to package dry food items.
Glasses are often transparent and can serve as an advertisement for food items. When it comes to human health, glass is one of the safest packaging materials that can be used for packaging food items as it is largely inert to physical and chemical reactions.
Thus, it is commonly used for primary packaging. However, a major disadvantage is its fragility if not handled with care, and its broken parts can become very harmful.
2. Paper and Paperboards:
These are suitable for either primary or secondary packaging. It is cheap and lightweight, which makes transportation easy.
It is mostly used for products that would be eaten within a short time. Paper and paperboard packages are not commonly used to package wet food items unless there is an extra layer of material protecting the item from direct contact with the paper.
Its main disadvantage is that it gets torn easily and is vulnerable to rodents.
3. Plastics:
This is one of the most widely used packaging materials. It is commonly used to package beverages, cooking oil, takeaway, fruit juice, etc.
This is mainly used due to its durability. It is sealable and therefore makes tampering obvious. It is lightweight, which makes transportation easy.
Plastics are cheap to produce, and also capable of resisting moisture due to their airtight nature, and can thus, handle wet or dry food products. It is reusable.
4. Metal:
This is often used to package canned foods and beverages. There and different types of metal used for packaging food items like aluminium, tin and stainless steel.
Metal packages are capable of handling wet and dry food items, it is durable and prevents the food from spoiling, giving it a longer shelf life. It is recyclable.
Important Things To Consider While Packaging Food Products
1. While packaging food items, keep in mind that no matter the quality of a food item, if the package is not aesthetically pleasing to the consumer, it will not sell, especially to first-time consumers.
So, ensure that on the shelf of similar products, yours stand out and can get the attention of your potential consumers.
2. Use the right package that complements your product. For example, packaging beverages in a liquid soap-shaped bottle would make them unrecognisable by consumers looking for beverages.
So, when you decide on what packaging material and style befits a food item, it is important to consider if your potential customers can identify it.
3. Some research has shown that certain colours such as yellow and red, have a psychological effect on food consumers, stimulating their interest in a particular food item.
So when making a packaging design for your food item, make use of colours that can easily captivate the attention of a customer.
However, it may be advisable to use earthy colours on your packaging material when packaging organic products, as bright colours might suggest that they are artificial.
Conclusion
Food packaging materials and design influence consumer purchase decisions.
Therefore, while ensuring that the packaging material keeps a food item safe and makes consumer access easy, it should also be presented in a way that attracts the attention of the desired consumers.
Add more to your knowledge by reading this, Pregnant Women and Their Cravings for Different Foods.
