Thinking outside the box: Cereal packaging diversifies into pouches, vacuum seal bags and QR codes

30 Jun 2021 --- “Never change a running system” has long been the modus operandi for most cereal brands and cereal packaging producers. For decades, the standard box with an inner plastic bag has served to safely and conveniently package cereals with large space for brand illustrations. 

Now, innovation in this space is accelerating, ranging from vacuum seal bags to stand-up pouches and QR codes for the visually impaired. 

PackagingInsights speaks with product design agencies Landor & Fitch and CreativeByDefinition Studio about cereal packaging concepts that swim against the stream. 

Also, MetsäBoard, Constantia Flexibles and Ulma Packaging UK discuss rigid requirements for food preservation and heightened consumer demands for eco-friendly options.

Same old – for a reason
According to National Cereal Day, 2.7 billion boxes of cereal are sold every year worldwide. Meanwhile, Innova Market Insights reports there was a 44 percent increase in global cereal launches in 2020.

These high numbers may invite packaging to branch out, but the iconic cereal bag-in-box duo has traditionally provided too many branding opportunities and convenience benefits to forgo. 

“The current box has largely remained the same because it works,” highlights Jack Holloway, senior designer at Landor & Fitch. 

Flat boxes provide brand expression opportunities, such as Kellogg’s during Pride Month. “The combination of the bag and box gives an extra layer of protection, providing an air pillow that protects delicate cereals from breaking up. Even together, the weight is very low, ensuring shipping costs are kept to a minimum.”

Moreover, the ubiquitous rectangle-shaped packaging is efficient to ship and works “on every type of shelf display.” The boxes’ flat front-of-pack provide brands with a large graphic design area for on-shelf expression. “That’s an opportunity no one will turn down,” notes Holloway.

Convenience king
The boxes’ convenience factor also ranks high: “Especially in the mornings, people want to pick up a simple constructed packaging, just open the box and get the product inside,” Gabi Chelsoi, creative director at CreativeByDefinition Studio, chimes in.

“The main idea of cereals is to offer an easy, fast, and healthy breakfast. We think the cardboard box design follows that path and delivers exactly what the customers expect.”

Holloway adds the overall potential costs involved in changing the packaging format provide a further hindrance to change, estimating costs of “millions, if not more.”

Food preservation criteria 
Like any F&B packaging, cereal packaging must first and foremost ensure box contents pour out into breakfast bowls hygienically, undamaged and unspoiled.

According to Hélène Lehtinen, customer projects director at MetsäBoard, packaging should offer protection against environmental factors such as:

• Humidity: Processed sugary cereals can absorb humidity from the environment, resulting in a loss in crispiness.
• Mechanical hazards from transportation: Packaging should protect the shape of the cereal from production units to the end-consumer.
• Light: Which can accelerate lipid oxidation.

Ed Williams, Ulma Packaging sales director, adds that these criteria are very similar across other dry food products, including grains, lentils, nuts and potato chips.

Younger generations are shifting toward stand-up pouches, which are typically multi-layered plastic materials. “Is it really that sustainable?” questions Lehtinen.Ingredient dependent
Cereals typically have low moisture, making them “rather stable” against microbiological growth. As a rule of thumb, however, cereal packaging is “very much linked to the ingredient lists and the target market,” Lehtinen emphasizes. 

“The target market influences the ingredient list. Cereals are typically more sugary in Central Europe and America than in Northern Europe.”

For products containing nuts or chocolate, temperature controlled or modified atmosphere packaging may be required for the cereals to meet their expected extended shelf life.

Not too hot, not too cold
Moreover, the climate conditions of the target market also play a role. “The closer to the equator or sea, the higher the temperature and moisture of the environment,” flags Lehtinen.

“In Northern countries, where the sugar levels are lower, the environment’s humidity is not generally high,” explains Helena Moring-Vepsalainen, product safety manager at Metsä Board. 

“Getting rid of the inner plastic bag has already happened [in this region], making room from new packaging designs.” 

Vacuum sealing inner bags 
Williams from Ulma Packaging pinpoints how retailers are under increasing pressure to provide products addressing consumers’ environmental sustainability criteria.

“Packaging reduction and sustainability are the key drivers behind changing consumer demand. One of our largest packaging concerns is excess air, as this can lead to excess financial and material costs,” he flags.

“Consumers are even beginning to change which brands they purchase based on their sustainability credentials,” Williams maintains. 

This is backed up by Innova Market Insights’ 2021 consumer survey, in which 65 percent of respondents agreed they are willing to switch their usual brand for one with more sustainable packaging.

In response, Ulma Packaging launched The Tight Bag in May. The air extraction solution pulls air from the individual bags in a programmable way, with no speed reduction, using a patented jaw arrangement in the cross-seal area.

Ulma Packaging’s excess air removal machinery decreases package volume, which can save companies up to 25% on fuel miles when transporting packs to retailers. Flexible solutions on a roll
Despite cardboard boxes’ long-standing cereal stronghold, Constantia Flexible sees various benefits in flexible packet alternatives. 

“The advantages are numerous,” says Ingo Geillersdörfer, product manager at Constantia’s confectionery and processed food division. 

“You have only one packaging to dispose of and flexible packaging can be transported much more efficiently from the producer to the supermarket. The packaging weight is reduced, it is cheaper and fully recyclable.”

Constantia Flexibles further offers resealable flexible solutions in combination with a zipper to ensure the product’s stable shelf life.

The trend toward cereal packaging is on the rise: Innova Market Insights reveals 80 percent of new cereal launches last year arrived in packets, roughly double that of boxes (42%).

Kellogg’s is trialing its cereal boxes for the visually impaired, featuring Braille embossing and Navi-Lens QR codes.Ticking all the modernization boxes
Outside of the materials category, Holloway from Landor & Fitch predicts digitalization will play a “huge role” in cereal packaging over the next few years, increasing both brand engagement and inclusivity. 

Kellogg’s is currently trialing a Braille-embossed box after it was revealed that nine in ten visually impaired people found it difficult to read information on food packaging. 

“The company is using a new technology called Navi-Lens that allows smartphones to notice an on-pack code from up to 3 m. The consumer can then choose to have the ingredients, allergy details and recycling information read out to them,” says Holloway. 

Regarding packaging shape, CreativeByDefinition Studio sees potential for tubes, wheels, and custom-shaped boxes that can “deliver a unique brand story.” 

“From a more graphical point of view, it is great to see the clutter design boxes are now shifting to a more clean, contemporary, and minimalistic style. We believe that in many cases less is more,” Chelsoi concludes.

By Anni Schleicher