Food packaging as a marketing tool
Food packaging is more than simply a container. It is an all-round emotional experience which has, over the years, become a powerful communication tool with a considerable impact on consumer buying decisions.
No longer simply a container, it is now a fundamentally important advertising tool which has turned the rules of the market on their heads and dictated new ones. It transmits a firm’s values and gets them across to the public at large.
In a more and more competitive and crowded market it is the packaging which makes the product. Firms are looking for new packaging strategies ranging from graphics to increasingly attention-grabbing colours.
And it is precisely colours which play a crucial role in the marketing strategies currently being adopted in the food packaging sector with a view to encouraging consumers to buy and improving the brand experience.
The colours chosen are warm shades, colours with feelings attached, which get consumers involved and are said to stimulate the appetite: yellow and orange attract attention on the shelves while green has environmental associations. White is used for diet products and black with more sophisticated, stylish products with DOC or PDO denominations.
In the food sector packaging conserves and protects food quality and keeps it fresh. It is designed to protect it from damage and increase shelf life. It is also designed to be tamper-proof.
Maximum efficiency requires choosing the right packaging materials and a practicable shape which protects foods from crushing.
