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AT THE POINT of sale, packaging really is one of the last chances to influence consumers of functional foods. A product can be really innovative and creative but if the packaging doesn’t appeal to consumers, then the brand message is never going to resonate, notes market intelligence company Datamonitor,
“Consumers of functional foods are generally more interested and more engaged in product information, and packaging is a really important vehicle in communicating that information,” explains Katrina Diamonon, a senior Consumer Insight analyst at Datamonitor.
Ms Diamonon revealed ten of the most interesting and important packaging trends for functional foods at Vitafoods Asia 2012 (5-7 September,
No. 1 – Fast Facts Health facts can be confusing. Stick to one or two of the most important pieces of information, and don’t bombard consumers with too many nutritional credentials and evidence. Products may have a very impressive list of nutritional credentials, but giving consumers too much information can be overwhelming.
Datamonitor finds that most consumers in the Asia-Pacific region actually prefer product simplicity to having multiple benefits, and this obviously has clear implications for packaging information. “There’s a lot of confusion associated with packaging and nutritional information, and it’s important for manufacturers to help consumers make the right choices just by giving them a few of the most important bits of information,” Ms Diamonon says.
No. 2 – QR Creativity Innovative applications of QR or quick response codes on food and drink packaging have particular promise in the health sector because consumers are increasingly embracing digital tools to find out more health.
“QR codes are already quite a developed technology in many Asian markets, but what we’re going to see over the next few years is food and drink companies being more creative with using them to engage and create a dialogue with consumers,” Ms Diamonon says. “QR codes are a really easy vehicle for consumers to get engaged with that kind of information.”