Packaging Functionality

Increased focus on pack functionality places entirely new demands on packaging designers. In addition to the purely graphic design and a brand-oriented presentation, the individual development of food packaging increasingly focuses on pack functionality.

19/10/05 In recent years, the attention of food producers has shifted more and more to packaging. After all, in an age when the quality of food products is governed by law and ensured by means of top-rate production technology, it is no longer sufficient merely to emphasize the quality of one’s products. Consequently, producers look for new ways of distinguishing themselves from the competition. Packaging design assumes this role and has thus become a dominant marketing tool. The days in which packaging only had to provide protection are therefore definitely over.

The decision is Made at the Point of Sale

The driving forces of this development are not the producers alone, but in particular the retail trade and consumers. After all, appetites are also whet by appearances and this starts even while shopping. In addition, households nowadays hardly stock up on food any more. If people go shopping several times a week, they also have to make new buying decisions every week. Goods with extremely attractive packaging have a clear advantage in the competition over the consumer’s attention. And the retail trade loves such goods because they promise money rolling in and a high product turnover. This development also applies to the discounters. Items that just had to be good and inexpensive in the past additionally have to look modern in these times of “thrift”.

Just Looking Nice is No Longer Enough

However, if every pack has an attractive and elegant look, something new has to be found to distinguish products. The magic word is functionality – or packaging with additional benefits. It started off with opening aids, then came integrated dosing aids and re-sealability – all innovations that consumers eagerly accept. Whereas, such packaging was initially only CFS White Paper “Tailored solutions instead of standard look provided by premium brands, it has now also reached the no-names. This is an indication that the wheel of innovation is turning faster and faster.

Functional packaging, however, places entirely new demands on packaging designers. And many companies unnecessarily pay dearly for this, since, out of habit, draft concepts continue to come from design and advertising agencies. Good money is paid to come up with new ideas and create new packaging. It is a big shock then when the food producer approves these designs and subsequently wishes to put them into practice. Many of the creative ideas are either unfeasible or only feasible at high cost and with investments in new machines. Manufacturers of packaging machines, of course, know a lot better which packaging innovations are rather utopian and which ones can be implemented without any problem and at low cost. After all, they start out from the capabilities of their machines.

CFS Pack Consultancy

That’s why CFS set up a dedicated Pack Consultancy Department as early as over five years ago. Pack Consultancy advises CFS customers with respect to packaging design. The focus is on the development of functional pack designs, which is done with great success, as demonstrated for example by the FlipFresh pack, which not only won the German packaging competition in 2002, but also received awards in numerous other countries.

A decisive advantage of Pack Consultancy is its close cooperation with CFS technicians and development engineers. They ensure that innovative pack designs can be implemented as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Furthermore, every customer has the opportunity of testing the designs at the CFS Technology Centre in The Netherlands under real conditions. This guarantees extraordinarily short realization times for Pack Consultancy designs. No more than three months are required from the initial planning to the introduction of a new pack design. Such periods are normally utopian, but may be worth their weight in gold given the shorter and shorter innovation cycles. After all, a company that can offer a new convincing pack during the listing talks has a clear advantage over competitors. And there’s one thing the retail trade also knows: better packaging sells better. CFS White Paper “Tailored solutions instead of standard look 

Gutfried Shows Vision

One example of the work performed by CFS Pack Consultancy is the cooperation with Nölke (meat plant and manufacturer of the brand Gutfried) from Versmold, Germany. Last year the two companies jointly put a completely new sausage pack on the market. It not only makes cans look quite mediocre, but turns the poultry wieners into attractive fresh products. Gutfried turkey wieners and hot dogs in the transparent tray pack make a direct impression on the consumer. In addition, the pack is divisible and thus the average consumer is not faced with the question of what to do with the remaining five wieners. Securely packed, they can wait until the consumer again has an appetite for wieners.

The highlight for Nölke: In spite of the completely new pack design, the machines only had to be reset with new tools. The changeover of the CFS Thermoformer Powerpak was carried out quickly and without any problems. Altogether less than four months went by from presentation of the idea to the finished product on the market. Setting up a new packaging line would not only have been considerably more expensive, but would also have taken significantly longer, not to mention production down time.

Nölke is not an isolated case. Producers in innovation-oriented markets like Scandinavia are very open to the ideas of CFS Pack Consultancy. Newcomers in the markets see the individual pack design as a unique opportunity of taking market shares away from established manufacturers’ brands.

Utilizing Existing Potential

Today individual pack design is more necessary than ever for food producers. Companies that view this as an opportunity will therefore always be more successful than those that see it as a necessary evil. After all, innovation cycles are getting shorter and shorter. And things, which were new yesterday, may be commonplace for everyone in a year. This makes it all the more important to implement product and packaging re-launches quickly and inexpensively. Consequently even closer cooperation with system providers, such as CFS, which can offer innovative pack designs and short implementation times, is absolutely vital for the food industry. However, this means a rethinking process must take place: the core competencies of the packaging machine manufacturers and their know-how have to be
CFS White Paper “Tailored solutions instead of standard look 
exploited better. The potential available here can give every producer a decisive edge over competitors.

Innovative Complete Solutions

CFS is a world-leading supplier of preparation, marination, further processing, slicing and packaging solutions, primarily for the meat, poultry, fish, seafood and cheese industries. This global organization offers the most extensive range of advanced solutions on the market today – from a single machine or packaging material to a complete production line. Innovative complete solutions are also available especially for the specific needs of producers of Ready Meals, Meal Components, Case Ready and Sliced Products.