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Packaging: Key to Growth, Savings, Opportunities across Foodservice – 1 |
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By Tom O'Connell and Michael Richmond
Be it national branded products or the distributor label, packaging within the foodservice industry has become critical to the success of a product. Operators are looking for more convenient, money-saving packages with easy disposal. Patrons at the table or that have product delivered, are looking for packages that are easy to use with nutritional or other key information.
Both the operator and patron are also looking for products packaged that address food safety and security. Packaging has thus become more important for both manufacturers and distributors and will create a point of differentiation with the customer. Below, Michael Richmond, president of Packaging & Technology Integrated Solutions (PTIS), offers his expertise and procedure for addressing this complicated area.
 TOM O'CONNELL
Factors driving consumer purchases range from the taste/performance, convenience, and nutrition/life quality to the variety and value. Fun, timesavings, the environment (sustainable packaging), and safety are additional factors consumers consider when using and purchasing a product at retail or across foodservice channels.
Food and beverage sales in the United States account for nearly $1 trillion annually and one-half of that value goes into foodservice. With continued focus on taste, time savings, and convenience by consumers, foodservice operators need to react quickly to be able to provide the best overall consumer solutions. This means from back room preparation, to consumer use, and finally to disposal. All three occasions are key to the successful consumer and operator experience.
Back room preparations
Consumer usage
Disposal and sustainability
Packaging is absolutely key to deliver meaningful benefits across these three platforms.
First, let's talk about back of the house or back room preparations. Having the right packaging is critical here. It needs to work in the space allotted, while also delivering the right operator convenience. Whether dry, liquid, or frozen, the packaging needs to perform right the first time and right every time for the operator. Consumers don't want to wait - so the packaging needs to deliver results. We have seen continued development by packaging converters to deliver better solutions for the operator in the back of the house. Examples include:
Bag-n-box and flexible solutions/replacements for the No. 10 can
Movement away from round to square containers to improve space efficiency
Better fitments, dispensing, and pour features to improve efficiency and speed for operators
Moving on to consumer usage and product experience. The consumer buys products not packages, but the package is key in consumer use and experience. We have seen continued growth in take-out across all restaurants, especially fast casual restaurants. Because consumers are always on the go, they don't have time to eat at the restaurant and they want convenience and no mess when they get it home. So the packaging has to deliver!
We have done a number of foodservice audits and have found significant improvement in food service packaging for take-out. We have seen improvements in both home meal replacement (HMR) and take-out packaging across food service establishments. Examples include Applebee's premium-look packaging and Burger King's Chicken Fries packaging with a condiment holder to make the fries more convenient to eat. We fully expect more improvements in this area in the coming years.
Disposability and environmental packaging concerns have been issues across the
foodservice industry for over 25 years. First, it was litter, then it was recyclability and source reduction, and now it's about sustainability. Sustainability is a much bigger opportunity. It has social, economic, and ecological impacts, and crosses many packaging and non-packaging arenas. For purposes here, we will focus on sustainable packaging that is defined by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC). These definitions include:
Is beneficial, safe & healthy for individuals and communities throughout its life cycle;
Meets market criteria for performance and cost;
Is sourced, manufactured, transported, and recycled using renewable energy;
Maximizes the use of renewable or recycled source materials;
Is manufactured using clean production technologies and best practices;
Is made from materials healthy in all probable end of life scenarios;
Is physically designed to optimize materials and energy;
Is effectively recovered and utilized in biological and/or industrial cradle-to-cradle cycles.
Currently, Wal-Mart has put out a challenge to their suppliers to provide better sustainability practices, including a greater focus on sustainable packaging. One current commercial example is the use of polylactic acid (PLA), a polymer made from corn that is currently being used in Sam's Clubs for produce. These containers are made from renewable resources and can be commercially composted.
There will be a continued emphasis on packaging and sustainability across all industries, and because of the visibility, foodservice will likely be a target. This is good. Increasing the focus and attention on packaging by operators can lead to improved in-store back-room practices, improved consumer experiences, and superior leading-edge sustainable packaging across the industry. Most companies across the value chain have started to develop and implement Packaging Sustainability Programs. As you can see, the importance of packaging for the foodservice industry is critical and gaining importance.
Next week, Mike Redmond offers a specific process developed by PTIS in addressed the growing packaging area.
Tom O'Connell is President of Marketing Concepts, Inc. and member of the ID Editorial Advisory Board. Marketing Concepts, Inc., offers strategic direction, business development, market research, and marketing direction/execution.
Michael Richmond, PhD., is president of Packaging & Technology Integrated Solutions, LLC, a management consulting firm with an innovative approach to packaging.
For more information on packaging of the PDP, contact Tom at Tom@marketingcpts.com or 608-798-1444 or Mike Richmond at mike@pti-solutions.com or 269-375-7031. |
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Beverage World
