There are top dogs in every industry. Whether you are coming from the food market, pet products, wine and alcohol, and every industry in between, there are dry cut thought leaders. There’s no denying that food marketing spells big competition, but the good news is that we can learn from their steps to success.
Although there are many paths food marketing can take to dominate the industry, one of the major starting points is with protective packaging. In fact, it’s quite safe to say that many of these ultra-recognizable brands got their start with a strong logo, quality product, and recognizable product packaging.
The brands we’re discussing in this blog post aren’t industry leaders in only our eyes. We pulled various brands from Food and Beverage Packaging’s Top 50 Food Packagers of 2014. Here are our 3 picks and how they are innovating their way to the top of their game.
- Nestle
As one of the big time producers for chocolate milk and candy, Nestle takes the number one spot on Food and Beverage’s Top 50 Food Packagers list. Its extensive product list and international brand name gives it a competitive edge in the food industry. However, Nestle is taking additional steps to innovating their packaging and improve recycling rates in the UK.
Nestlé’s goal is to partner with Coca-Cola as a research project to find foil pouch packaging options containing aluminum. The two companies are looking to reduce carbon emissions and remanufacturing rates and they believe foil pouch packaging has tremendous upside potential.
Nestle notes that foil pouch packaging with aluminum will help lengthen product shelf life and reduce the weight of their packaging.
- Tyson Foods
Speaking of recycling, Tyson took a big step in the recycling world not too long ago. In 2013, Tyson unveiled their 100% recyclable packaging for a variety of their items. As consumer awareness has increased over the years with recycling concerns, Tyson Foods took the leap to offer packaging that won’t take up space in landfills.
Their journey started south of the border when Tyson Mexico teamed up with Printpack and Latin American Dow Specialty & Plastics. Tyson Mexico’s goal was to create a more sustainable flexible package for frozen chicken while maintaining aesthetic quality.
The answer was to develop a flexible retail package that uses 100 percent polyethylene (PE) and PET film resin. Tyson Mexico’s new stand up pouch used 100 percent PE for both packaging and its zipper feature. The new packaging kept frozen chicken ultra fresh while offering a recyclable option to Tyson Mexico’s customers. Best of all, they were able to keep their high quality graphics thanks to the film resin on the new packaging.
- General Mills
Almost everyone knows General Mills. Established in 1856, they’ve been around the block a time or two when it comes to packaging and food marketing. General Mills knows how to get things done for food packaging, and here’s how they are innovating their way to the top.
One of General Mills’ big-ticket items is raw dough used to bake biscuits, pizza dough, and more. Most consumers are familiar with the cardboard and metal tubes that are used to contain dough; the dough expands for baking once the tubes pop open. General Mills recently claimed that this protective packaging method was too expensive and decreased the dough’s baking quality.
General Mills saw a need for consumers with product packaging that can be refrigerated while containing the dough under pressure without impacting baking quality. Not only that, but the packaging needed to be more cost effective.
General Mills took that concept and innovated their way to a new kind of flexible retail packaging with paper-based material. This eliminated the need for the product to be wound with wire and metal closures. They reduced the headspace of the product-packaging container to fewer than 2% while containing 7-20 pounds of pressure per square inch. This helped maintain the dough’s quality by only allowing the dough to expand by no more than 10 percent while contained inside of the packaging.
With this process, General Mills was able to create an innovative food package that was more affordable and increased the dough’s quality and showing off their food marketing prowess. They have filed a patent on this packaging and there’s no doubt that this new way of packaging dough will bring quality and freshness to their customers.
So, how have these 3 brands managed to dominate the food industry using packaging?
There are several approaches.
Big Food Companies Focus on Quality, Quality, Quality
Poor quality food products can seriously spoil your company’s reputation, or even wipe you off the map completely. In order to maintain quality, big food company’s take a serious look at their protective packaging. It needs to meet the company’s rigorous standards and promote freshness with every bite.
Quality is all about the food, but it starts with your packaging.
Big Food Companies Are Always Innovating
There’s no such thing as ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ to major food companies. Notice how General Mills didn’t settle for the standard cardboard tube with wire for their raw dough containers. Not to mention, Tyson Foods wasn’t satisfied with packaging that littered landfills. These companies built a great product and continuously perfect their packaging and presentation.
Big Food Companies Consider Customer Experience
Above all else, customer experience is crucial when it comes to your product packaging. If your protective packaging doesn’t meet the needs of your customers, you can lose your buyers at the snap of a finger. If your customers are demanding a recyclable product, listen to them. If your customers are complaining about the style or function of your packaging, listen to them.
These rules don’t just apply to food marketers. Every industry should consider quality, innovation, and customer experience when producing their packaging. There are multiple routes to building a big brand, but packaging can help you dominate your industry and win big with your customers.
In closing, it doesn’t matter if you are using foil pouch packaging, flat barrier bags or other type of protective packaging, food marketing is a big business and if you focus on quality, innovation, and customer experience you too can compete with the big dogs!
