Transparent Packaging Can Make The Difference When A Customer Is Deciding Between Food Items

Nevin Barich

LOS ANGELES , April 10, 2017 (Off The Menu) – What can Industry Intelligence do for your business? Click here to sign up for a free demo.

Whenever I'm in the supermarket and debating whether to try a new food product, it helps when I'm able to see what I'm buying. Now there are three ways to do that:

1) Open up the package right then and there in the store

2) Look at the picture on the box.

3) See the food through the transparent packaging

Now the problem with option 1 is obvious: If I open the package in the middle of the aisle and decide I don’t like it, then I still either have to a) pay for something I don’t want or b) put an open product back on the shelf (which, needless to say, is a little tacky). Option 2 has its own issues: What if the food doesn’t may not look the way it looks does on the package? Appearance can be deceiving, after all.

That leaves option 3, which really makes the most sense. With transparent packaging, I can see what I’m actually buying before I decide to buy it, without having to open the package. Option 3 provides the information I need to help me make my purchasing decision.

According to a recent report by Mintel entitled “Transparent Food Packaging,” nearly 40% of US consumers would choose a product over a competitor’s solely because the packaging allows them to see the contents inside. Food packaging with a cut-out window accounted for 12% of all new carton-based packaging launches in the first five months of 2016, up from 8% in 2013.

That’s why companies like Sonoco are getting in on this growing trend. Sonoco recently launched its ClearGuard range of flexible packaging with a clear window for meat snacks, nuts, trail mixes, snack and nutrition bars, cookies and crackers.

“ClearGuard packaging has low oxygen and water vapor transmission rates to protect the food inside and preserve its shelf life,” said Marcy Thompson, Sonoco’s vice president of marketing and innovation. “Shoppers want to see the product inside the package, so for products like trail mix, granola and jerky, the challenge is providing transparent packaging while still protecting freshness and quality.”

Freshness and quality are paramount when consumers are deciding between products, said John Owen, Mintel’s senior food and drink analyst.

“Two closely related packaging features, resealability and the ability to keep food from going bad, are the most likely ones to motivate food shoppers to select one product over another, pointing to an opportunity for food brands and retailers to feature packaging designed to extend shelf life and minimize food waste,” Owen said.

Nevin Barich is the Food and Beverage Analyst for Industry Intelligence and is also Menuism’s fast-food expert. Email him at Nevin.Barich@industryintel.com or follow him on Twitter.

* All content is copyrighted by Industry Intelligence, or the original respective author or source. You may not recirculate, redistrubte or publish the analysis and presentation included in the service without Industry Intelligence's prior written consent. Please review our terms of use.