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PB: What do you see as the major perishables packaging trends to watch for in 2012?
Michael Quint: Sustainability is a big one. What packaging do you have that is 100 percent recycled? To what degree can it be recycled? I think [packaging’s environmental] footprint is becoming an issue. Certainly you are seeing some smaller package size offerings. I [also] think resealability is still key.
Jerry Kelly: The functionality of the package. It’s got to be easy open. The reclose feature has to be more than just saying that, it’s got to work time after time.
Lindsey Hurr: From the design perspective, communications, but at this point in time, we’re starting to over-communicate on packages. You see a lot of just too much information.
Chris Durham: And we are not solving for her [the shopper’s] needs honestly. What solution am I bringing her and how am I helping her take care of her family? So how does [packaging and the perishables inside] help her life, how does it help her take care of her family? What are the benefits that actually mean something to her?
PB: What makes for a successful package?
Kelly: Well the package has to perform, especially when you have extended shelf life. Is that product fresh in the first week? Is it fresh on the last week? Well, that’s their intention and the package has got to live up to that. So performance is certainly a key packaging element.
Paul Weitzel: We see issues in frozen [packaging]; a lot of packaging breaking down and [that’s happening while] the frozen departments are only growing in every store that we see being built. So quality must continue to be improved.
Quint: Whatever information you can put on the package, the product has to deliver what is conveyed on the package, whether it’s a usage shot or it’s some statement of quality. If the product doesn’t match up to the packaging, then you’ve got your first and only sale.
PB: When you talk about packaging breaking down, is it the structure of the package?
Weitzel: I think it’s the material, you can see some packages breaking down.
Kelly: One way to address that specifically is to add more packaging, put a shrink wrap around it. [But] then are you getting away from a reduced packaging [footprint] strategy.
Weitzel: I think that a package, to be successful, also has to stand up to some of the new shelf conditions that we have. We are seeing a lot more shelving innovation, in the refrigerated case right now [for example], [there’s] spring-loaded, gravity-fed, more packaging trying to get upright. There is a lot more of that coming because retailers are trying to cut labor cost and reduce inventory and when everything is front-faced it looks great. We are going to see a lot more shelving innovation coming and the packaging is going to have to work in that environment.
PB: Regarding retail-ready packaging, is demand growing?
Weitzel: Some of the big retailers are very interested in reducing cost, and labor cost is the one cost that they can control. Things like packaging that can go right to the shelf, whether it’s a tray or a case pack or pallet drop, we are going to see more of that coming [to cut retailer costs].
Durham: It’s a lot bigger than just the labor issue if [retailers] are going to do it right. [It’s about] we can actually use [retail-ready packaging] to better our merchandise and also sell more stuff.
Kelly: We see things like the focus on the natural and organic category, going to a different type of packaging, a vacuum skin type package, where you get longer shelf life. It conveys freshness. And then they get the extended shelf life but it’s focused in on product that has that halo of freshness, that’s organic, it’s natural or it’s a specialty category.
PB: Can there be a design aspect to those?
Kelly: Design is crucial. [we’re] working with a retailer right now and [putting] its color scheme on its natural line. It’s a destination category in the case [so] it’s going to look different, physically different than the other products.
Weitzel: I think extended shelf life may be important [here] too. We’re seeing a lot more open code dated products than ever before and even the big national brand guys are moving more and more, putting open code date on the package and, obviously, that has a ramification for days of supply.
PB: So, with all of these considerations in mind, what makes for a successful package?
Quint: It has to function and do what it promises, whether it’s reclose or easy open. It’s got to reclose correctly. If I take it and I turn it upside down and shake it or anything else, [it needs to remain closed] because it’s going to be treated that way in the refrigerator at home. And then it needs to be able, from a graphic’s designer standpoint, to communicate what it does; if there is something that is unusual about it, if it’s a new opening or closing type of product or anything, it needs to convey with clear instructions how you do it.
Hurr: For us, it depends on its tier. It’s not just about what makes a good package but for a premium, obviously, that equals high quality. Our design team has [guidelines] as to if it’s a value tier, the descriptions are large. If it’s a premium, descriptions are smaller. It just depends on what you are trying to communicate.
Kelly: Keeping it simple [in terms of packaging instructions], showing pictures, communicating. Simple communication is really the key to success.
PB: To have the perfect package – stronger, functional, sustainable – will mean a more expensive package, will consumers or retailers be willing to pay for that?
Hurr: I think consumers are worried about sustainability but they are more worried in this economy about the money in their pocket. So if it’s going to cost them, if they’re going to have to pay more for a more sustainable package, I think they’ll choose not to. So you have to be very careful.
Quint: I would agree. I mean I think if everything is equal [and the] sustainability piece of it is clearly communicated, they’ll move in that direction. But if it’s 50 cents more to have a sustainable package, I don’t think [consumers] are there yet, in most cases.
Kelly: We have options for sustainable packaging [but] one of the issues is you don’t have the economies of scale. If we were making a million a day it would be different and the price would come down. So we are in this position — people want it, it performs, we have trays for different parts of the store, they perform differently but they cost more because we’re not selling a lot of them. So it’s tough right now.
PB: How complicated are the various front-of-package labeling schemes making the packaging challenge?
Hurr: It goes back to the clutter situation. It’s a nice idea but we’re all over the board right now; everyone’s trying their own different tactics to convey health issues.
Kelly: You start out with a good idea but the execution is all over the board and so it does make it challenging.
PB: Are any of these front-of-package systems connecting with consumers?
Durham: I was with Delhaize when it launched Guiding Stars. It’s an impressive program, there’s a lot of science behind it. What worked well for it was that it gave [the shopper] an easy way to say, okay, this is two stars, this is three stars. Is it any better or worse than the rest of them? Probably not. I think at the end of the day all those programs have to come down to [is], are you actually helping her shop or make a better decision?
Weitzel: The issue we have is [that] even though more consumers take a shopping list [to the store], a lot of decisions are being made in the store. [So], to connect with shoppers you’ve got to do it at the shelf and so everyone is trying to throw as much information at the shelf as they can. So it’s on labeling, it’s on the end of the shelf, signage above the shelf, markers, navigational signs, everything. There’s almost so much information right now that we have clutter; it’s a challenge.
Quint: The problem is, what’s the definition of healthy? It depends on what study you read. If you have high cholesterol or if you’re gluten intolerant, you’re going to be looking for different requirements in a product, so a lot of it is based on the individual in terms of their definition of what’s healthy. So how do you standardize health?
Quint: That’s where all naturals come into play. Of course, you don’t know what all natural is necessarily.
Weitzel: There’s just too much to be able to communicate that on the shelf and that’s the problem with trying to communicate everything in shelving. We’re overwhelming them [shoppers] on the package; we’re trying to do too much.
PB: Is Gen Y shopping, and reacting to packaging, differently than its parents?
Quint: I think so, I think they’re much more educated and they understand the tools to go answer a question very quickly if they want to. They expect better quality.
Durham: First of all [for Gen Y], the local food movement’s been huge. And then you’d layer in food safety on top of it [as a Gen Y concern] and all of a sudden the mass production [that was] a cool, sexy thing that came out after World War II doesn’t look the same to that generation. So they are starting to ask questions and wanting to know where the food was sourced and how it was made and what it’s packaged in.
PB: If more consumers are into fresh, does that affect the packaging and what they expect from packaging?
Kelly: Absolutely, packaging can convey fresh. It’s all about packaging design, dialing in the package to the product that you’re selling and making sure it matches up.
PB: European packaging always seems to stand out, why? Have they gotten the message that packaging is more important than just a package?
Quint: It goes back to how they shop differently than we do too. They don’t go in and buy for the week, or the next week and a half, in a lot of cases. It’s ‘I’m buying for today and tomorrow,’ so it’s smaller portion sizes which then allows for different packaging, allows for a lot of different packaging.
Durham: And they’re not afraid of just saying what it is and being miniml about it and then spending a lot of money on photography. Go look at Tesco, look at that [package], it says what it is and there’s a beautiful picture and a sensible font and they’re done.
Kelly: Well they do take a minimalist approach. When it comes to packaging, I think they are willing to try different things and maybe we are a little too conservative in some regards
PB: There’s been a lot written this year about cost pressures on commodities and other ingredients, are we seeing that in packaging as well and what’s the outlook for next year?
Kelly: Volatile. You have unrest in the Middle East, you have other issues going on, you have countries on the verge of default. We’re more global than we’ve ever been and, certainly for our company, we’re a global company and we’re impacted big time by a little bump somewhere else in the world. Most of the [raw material used in fresh food packaging] is a oil-based derivative and that is a very fluid and dynamic market. So that’s going to be a big issue going forward, there is still a lot of instability.
Quint: Ultimately, you’re going to want to do one or two things, you’re going to pass [cost increases] through or are you going to try to find a solution to lower costs in order to compensate for that.
PB: Is packaging’s reliance on petroleum changing?
Kelly: There are alternatives, there are corn-based trays that you can make, you can also take corn out of the equation because that’s a real sensitive issue. When you say ‘we’d like to sell you a corn-based tray’ there’s a link made that, well, you’re helping fuel the price of corn when in reality its such a small percentage it really doesn’t impact it. But we can switch to switchgrass as another item; we have a tray that’s made out of tapioca and bamboo. Now it doesn’t work for meat but it works for produce, works for bakery, has some great applications. But again, we don’t have a lot of people using those types of trays. They want to but they don’t want to pay, they want to be cost neutral and the economics just don’t work right now on being cost neutral.
We [also] look at packaging source reduction as a big thing, one of the categories we’re looking at is shredded cheese and the packages that are out there now. We have an offering that would take up less space, you know top to bottom, and be a shorter package, same amount of ounces.
PB: What’s going to be the biggest news in packaging next year?
Quint: I think the quest for differentiation.
Durham: You can expect to see Kroger continue to roll out some significant re-designs; CVS and Walgreens will both grow out some [new products].
Kelly: I think package performance, meeting expectations or going beyond, coming out with new features, extending shelf life without increasing the cost.
