Tag: packaging trends

Active and Intelligent Packaging: Advantages

Active and Intelligent packaging, 2 trends in professional packaging that even today have not found universal acceptance, despite the significant advantages they offer.

Food packaging takes on the role of preserving food, thus extending the shelf life of products, while ensuring the highest quality and safety during production and storage.

Smart food packaging further develops the functions of traditional packaging by introducing the possibility of continuous monitoring of food quality throughout production, in order to assess and reduce contamination outbreaks and food waste, while promoting more effectively valuable information towards consumers.

Various food quality indicators have been the core of several smart packaging functions in recent years, but mass adoption remains a challenge.

To this end, in recent years, the 2 following packaging solutions have been created:

Active packaging

active packaging

Active packaging interacts with the contents of a product to improve its quality or shelf life during storage. A good example is when certain substances are released into the packaging or its immediate environment. Filtering light, oxygen and ethylene can significantly improve the shelf life of products during storage. In active packaging, the active agent can be incorporated into the packaging or added separately.

A good example of active packaging is when a beer is packaged in a plastic bottle. The plastic bottle usually contains an oxygen absorber in the screw cap that extends the shelf life of the beer by three to six years.

Intelligent packaging

active packaging

Intelligent packaging is a packaging that monitors the condition of a product and provides information about its quality during transport and storage. This type of packaging uses quality indicators to improve the decisions a company makes regarding quality control and overall product safety.

A smart package features multiple functions such as recording, detecting and providing important information about the current state of the product. To make use of this packaging, companies need the necessary technological hardware that will collect indicators such as time, temperature, maturity indicators, air composition, etc.

This technology provides remote control capabilities. For example, we could be able to change the oxygen level in a product without necessarily having the product in our hands.

QR codes can be considered a form of smart packaging too and have been used extensively in an effort to improve user experience and product quality. They have been used as a mean to provide a greater wealth of information or make repeat purchases super easy.

The advantages of intelligent packaging

They help consumers to get better information

QR codes printed on the packaging of virtually any product can help consumers get important information about the product they have just bought. We are at the heart of the transition towards an Eco-friendly society and consumers want to know the environmental footprint of any given product.

active packaging

By doing so, businesses can offer information about the origin, nutritional values, dietary concerns, etc. to the consumer in a direct and interactive way.

Quality control

The quality of a company’s products is inextricably linked to its brand reputation and success. The primary concern of eCommerce companies is to increase the shelf life of their products while enhancing the aesthetic appeal of their packaging.

active packaging

This is exactly the innovation that active & intelligent packaging offers. They not only enhance the design of a product’s packaging but add active ingredients that improve the quality and longevity of the product.

Reduction of pollutants and optimal resource management

Optimal resource management, combined with waste reduction, plays a key role in the sustainability of any business.

The adoption of smart packaging maximizes the efficiency of the production line. As a result, the extra cost of waste management is eliminated and those same resources can be strategically invested in other areas.

active packaging

Another very important advantage is the reduction of the harmful substances certain packaging options have. Intelligent packaging is a sustainable and ecological option, based on ‘green materials’.

Product packaging: modern trends and solutions

 

Product packaging
Wolfmann, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

An integral part of the promotion of a product is undoubtedly the packaging and appearance of the product, especially if we are talking about retail where product placement is crucial.

That is the reason why many businesses, regardless of their size, are constantly trying to stand out in this key promotional and sales hub. After all, it is the packaging of a product that is the main expression of its image and general philosophy, with consumers in recent years increasingly emphasizing usability, quality and the immediate provision of information.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at 3 types of packaging that have been attracting consumer interest lately, each for its own particular characteristics:

A) Ecological, green packaging

There are many consumers nowadays who, in addition to choosing a product based on its features and usability, they often take into consideration the eco-friendly nature of its packaging as a gesture of responsibility and ecological awareness.

Thus, many companies are now turning to sustainable, eco-friendly options by changing the composition of their packaging to “green materials”. That is why on the shelves of retail stores we tend to come across products using mostly or primarily recyclable packaging, biodegradable or other reused materials (e.g. paper bags, paper kraft boxes).

Usually these packages also carry some special, registered symbols on them that illustrate and communicate their ecological composition and the appropriate place where they should be disposed.

This is common practice for products such as milk, juices, cereals, pasta etc, while other companies are expected to gradually adopt similar solutions. These solutions are aimed at eco-conscious consumers who are aware of the environmental and climate change impacts the production and disposal of a product has.

Product packaging

2) Practical packaging and ease of use

Another particularly popular packaging category is that of practical, functional and easy-to-use packaging. In this category we come across solutions that can be easy to open and close while effectively protecting their contents (e.g. Doy-pack type packaging).

They are highly resistant to damage, stand the test of time, respond to refrigeration conditions, are flexible and generally aim to offer a comfortable and great user experience to the consumer.

Product packaging

Such packaging is often chosen by women with children who usually face a multitude of happenstances in their household and time management is their top priority.

Similarly, other categories of consumers such as workers, singles or couples seem to prefer them mainly because of the fast pace of their lives. Practical packaging solutions are commonly used for dairy products, cold cuts, vegetables, pre-cooked food and even various snacks.

3) Interactive packaging, internet and access to information

In addition to the above options, it is a fact that in recent years many companies have started the digital transformation of their packaging. This digital dimension has the potential to offer, through a smartphone, access to a lot of information about the product in question and is particularly friendly to the new generation of consumers.

For example, a QR code on any packaging can lead to additional information online, link to a social media page or even provide all the necessary information about a current promotional activity. Such an option is not affected by the packaging material at all (a QR code can be printed anywhere), it offers a stylish presentation and is economical in terms of space and usability.

All it takes is for a company to maintain an up-to-date web presence so that the customer can also access this updated and useful content. More and more companies are expected to adopt this model in the near future, as the evolution of technology promises additional solutions capable of offering personalized experiences to each customer.