According to CPS International director of packaging management, Andrew Streeter, bread packaging could use a shake-up. When you think about it, when was the last time bread packaging changed? For as long as we can remember, sliced bread has been packaged the same old way – in plastic bags with a twist tie, for the most part.
Bread manufacturers understandably focus on cost effectiveness and protection, both of which are essential – but what could bread manufacturers do to make the choice for consumers even better? Streeter says that unlike many other food products, bread lacks the reclosable and easy open functions, promoting of brand values, and sense of freshness that many other FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) use in packaging. He also suggests that certain types of packaging could potentially allow consumers to not only feel the bread’s firmness, crust, or center softness, but to enjoy its aroma as well.
Packaging innovations could drive an increased interest in bread, according to Streeter who feels that bread manufacturers should rethink the role of packaging today, and how packaging can add value other than the ‘contain and protect’ approach bread makers have relied on for years.
Ultimately, consumers want freshness, whether perceived or real. Streeter claims that the way sliced bread is packaged today does not capture consumers’ emotions, and it does not bring out the freshness value or engage the consumer. In order to get back the volumes in bread sales prior to the economic downturn, packaging should focus on the consumer’s needs.
How many consumer goods can you think of in addition to bread that over the past decades have not had a significant change in packaging design, whether for brand awareness or to make it more consumer friendly?
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