Too Much Of A Good Thing?

Consumers say less is more when it comes to packaging, and suppliers are responding.

Three-quarters of consumers think many products are overpackaged, a mood that lends further support for the greening of goods packaging.

Last month's installment of our packaging report focused on qualities that may have been overshadowed as the food industry's eco-consciousness grew. This month, we turn our attention back to sustainability and learn that the grass is in fact greener on that side of the package.

Steve French, managing partner at the Harleysville, Pa.-based Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), says manufacturers' activities can be broken down into two models: amount and type of packaging. "Many companies are evaluating options; however, most realize that eco-packaging is not the key consumer purchase driver," French says. "The drivers behind such eco-packaging issues are three-fold for the manufacturer: cost savings, image enhancement or part of their sustainability strategy."

Packaging continues to be a top environmental concern among consumers, French says, cautioning that most aren't willing to pay more for green packaging. "Consumers see empty packages filling up their trash and recycling bins, and would like to be able to reduce the volume: take the trash out less, save the environment and maybe save a little money," he says. "Simply reducing the volume of packaging is an easy place to start — 74 percent think many products are overpackaged and 79 percent think 'minimally packaged' foods and beverages are important."

Packaging suppliers concur with NMI's assessment. "Consumer packaged goods companies and retailers in some categories are looking for a smaller packaging footprint, or a reduction in packaging, as a sign of green credibility," says Catherine Browne, general manager of Huntington Park, Calif.-based Crown Poly Inc.

Erin Reynolds, senior marketing manager at Memphis, Tenn.-based Evergreen Packaging, says consumer purchasing decisions "are increasingly influenced by thoughtful consideration about the environmental impact of a product's packaging. They are taking a closer look at a brand's environmental practices before they dip into their wallets."

Reynolds cites studies that indicate 86 percent of consumers feel it's important that packaging be made from renewable resources. "At Evergreen Packaging, we work with our customers to ensure that they capitalize on the natural benefits offered by paper cartons," she says, adding that a majority of consumers find on-pack messaging about the environmental benefits of paper cartons beneficial, and "such messaging causes them to feel more positive about the brand and to consider trying a new brand."

The folks at Robbie Flexibles are hearing similar demands. "Through our research, we have learned that consumers appreciate retailers that offer a more sustainable packaging alternative," says Drew Lericos, director of marketing for the Lenexa, Kan.-based company. "During consumer intercepts, almost half of our respondents stated that they are more likely to purchase products in a more sustainable package."

Suley Muratoglu, VP of marketing and product development at Vernon Hills, Ill.-based food packaging company Tetra Pak Inc., agrees. As consumers expand their knowledge of sustainability issues, he says, "there is a growing sense of responsibility when it comes to their purchases. In addition, consumers increasingly believe that businesses should take responsibility in environmental issues and reduce their impact on the environment."

Barak Bright, director of marketing at Chicago-based Bagcraft Papercon, says consumers want a simpler approach to marketing sustainable products and packaging. "The new proposed FTC sustainable green marketing guidelines (www.ftc.gov/opa/reporter/greengds.shtm) should help consumers by keeping the messages simple and factual," he says. "Retailers appreciate our approach, since we are driven to gain market share by reducing costs and improving the sustainability of their packages."

Robbie Flexibles continually challenges its product development team to experiment with emerging film alternatives that offer strength, clarity and material source reduction, Lericos notes.

"This may seem simple, but converting these unique new structures into high-quality flexible pouches can be a significant challenge," he says. "Robbie is continuing to develop sustainable packaging with attributes that focus on shelf life improvement, like microperforation for produce, and moisture and oxygen barriers for bakery products. We conduct consumer research to ensure we understand what the needs of the consumer are, so that we can exceed their expectations."

Likewise, Jerry Kelly, national retail account manager for Duncan, S.C.-based Sealed Air's Cryovac brand food packaging, notes that Cryovac's sustainability platform focuses on the entire product life cycle. "When we consider sustainability, we do so in view of performance, with the ultimate goal being reduction in food waste," he says. Packaging that reduces waste "in turn reduces the net environmental impact of food production, processing, transportation and storage."

Reduce, Reuse, Revamp

Affordable sustainable packaging is gaining share quickly, Bright asserts. "Supermarkets are taking a pragmatic approach towards sustainable packaging by choosing to work on improving the sustainability of packaging in smaller incremental steps instead of larger ones, which can add too much short-term cost to be practical," he says. "In our current economy, consumers and supermarkets are less likely to pay a significant premium for a sustainable package. In many cases, there are sustainable package solutions that cost much less than many of the standard packages you see in the store today. … Supermarkets and consumers will benefit from the wider range of differentiated package choices available, and the lower costs."

Crown Poly's products — supermarket packaging in the produce and front end departments — employ innovation and technology to reduce the number of bags, and a superior lightweight film for specific product applications.

"We have reduced front end bag usage by 25 percent in some retailers with our Hippo Sak. We have historically reduced produce bag usage by 15 percent in retailers with our Pull-N-Pak," Browne notes. "Retailers are eager to reduce usage of plastic bags in all supply areas, if the behavior impact is minimal to both store associates and consumers. If consumers are educated on source reduction, generally the feedback is positive."

Browne says recycling also must drive packaging design. "Innovation will continue to yield lower usage on larger, heavier-weight products, as can be seen in the consumer trash bag category," she observes.

Muratoglu further notes Tetra Pak research showing 88 percent of consumers in 10 countries expressed a preference or strong preference for products in recyclable packaging. "In the United States alone, 70 percent of the survey's respondents said they are willing to buy green products if the quality were the same as non-green alternatives," he says. "We focus on the entire life cycle of our products, from shipping to shelf space to recyclability."

Recyclable packaging is generally preferred over other green packages, NMI's French says, noting that biodegradable and other new material types are quickly gaining ground.

Compostable packaging is also seeing wider use. Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Clear Lam Packaging Inc. has developed a new package for Lactalis American Group's Precious Sticksters brand cheese snacks from a revolutionary new film material that's made from 50 percent plant-based plastic. Part of Clear Lam's "Project EarthClear" initiative, the package is constructed from a lamination of plant-based, renewable plastic (made from Natureworks Ingeo polylactic acid), with an outer layer of traditional petroleum-based plastic. This new material is purported to generate up to 35.2 percent fewer greenhouse gases and use up to 36.8 percent less energy than conventional materials.

At Anuga FoodTech 2012 in Cologne, Germany, earlier this year, Tetra Pak unveiled four new features for its carton packaging portfolio, aimed at strengthening the environmental attributes of several of its leading products: a separable top for its Tetra Evero Aseptic carton and three renewable polyethylene caps made from plant-based sources.

Oakland, Calif.-based Ecologic Brands Inc., creator of the first molded fiber bottle made from recycled cardboard, unveiled its Eco.bottle line of stock molded fiber bottles last fall at Pack Expo in Las Vegas. Ecologic offers 32-, 50- and 64-ounce bottles for liquid or dry food-grade products.

Ecologic's BPA-free bottles are composed of a sturdy molded fiber shell made from recycled cardboard and newspapers, and a thin interior plastic pouch that uses up to 70 percent less plastic when compared with rigid plastic high-density polyethylene bottles. When finished with the product inside, consumers simply pop open the exterior shell and recycle or compost it; the thin plastic pouch is recyclable with plastic grocery bags or vastly reduces landfill waste if thrown away.

Winner of the 2011 Greener Package Award for Environmental Impact, the Ecologic bottle debuted in March 2011 with Seventh Generation's new 4X detergent, which is reportedly now one of the 10 best-selling detergents in the natural grocery channel.

In the area of packaging reduction, last month Austin, Minn.-based Hormel Foods started shipping its Country Crock heat-and-eat side dishes to grocers without the product's old paperboard sleeve. An in-mold package design has replaced the sleeve, with the product information now printed directly on the tub, a move that Hormel claims will save more than 8,500 trees a year.

Meanwhile, food manufacturers such as H.J. Heinz Co. and Campbell Soup are launching products in pouch packaging that aims to save cost and materials.

What's Next?

So what things will be most important to CPG packaging in the coming years?

"The speed in which we can provide packaging solutions is critical to our success as retailers are trying to juggle department initiatives, packaging projects and the relentless onslaught of communication demands," Bagcraft Papercon's Bright says. "Speed, flexibility and adaptability are more important than ever as retailers demand more specialized packages that fit their need to differentiate their specialty food products."

Crown Poly's Browne notes that while retail products have historically had large packaging for more advertising space, "that may diminish in the future to smaller, more green packaging for a smaller footprint to yield lower transportation, distribution and storage cost."

Cryovac's Kelly says packaging technology will continue to adapt to meet consumers' ongoing demand for higher-quality foods that are minimally processed but convenient to prepare and use.

"Consumers are taking a broader and more sophisticated look at a brand's environmental practices, causing brands to be more in tune with their packaging," Evergreen's Reynolds says. "We will see more brands leveraging packaging to further convey their commitment to environmental responsibility."

Muratoglu says packaging companies must initiate "future think." He continues: "It's not enough to plan and design five years ahead. The ongoing challenge packagers will face is to understand the way we live today and [predict how] we will live 20 years from now." PG

"Consumers appreciate retailers that offer a more sustainable packaging alternative."

—Drew Lericos, Robbie Flexibles

Shoppers Get Green

Evergreen Packaging's study, Targeting the Green Consumer through Fresh Packaging, includes these findings:

• About nine in 10 Americans say they have purchased green products.
• Consumers care about the whole package, from ingredients to environmental practices.
• Consumers are frustrated by wasteful packaging and confusing green claims.
• Demand for sustainable packaging is growing, and green-leaning consumers perceive paper as environmentally friendly.

Neuromarketing Arrives at Your Local Grocer

By Russ Dunham

The fast-growing field of measuring consumers' subconscious responses to brands, products, packaging, in-store marketing and advertising — popularly known as "neuromarketing" — has produced a new study that reveals data about which package label materials drive purchase intent most powerfully.

The research, commissioned by global packaging label supplier Vacumet and conducted by neuromarketing company Nielsen NeuroFocus, captured shoppers' brainwave activity in real time as they examined two different label materials — paper and metallic — on three different popular canned products. The goal was to answer four foundational questions:

• Which package label drives the strongest purchase intent?
• Which label is most effective overall?
• How do male and female consumers respond differently to these designs?
• How powerful are different label materials at evoking consumers' positive subconscious responses to specific brand attributes, such as "higher quality"?

Measuring consumers' subconscious responses is the most accurate and reliable form of market research, because neuroscience has discovered that only 2 percent of the brain's processing power is devoted to conscious thought. The vast majority of daily decisions are made within the subconscious, which is where initial product interest, purchase intent and brand loyalty are formed.

Topline results, scored across the NeuroMetrics of Attention, Emotional Engagement, Memory Retention, Purchase Intent, Novelty and Awareness, revealed the following:

• Metallic labels outperform paper, especially among women.
• Compared with paper, metallic labels generated increased "lift" for specific product attributes, including "distinctive" and "higher quality."
• Pictures and branding information are particularly effective on metallic labels.

"Because packaging is the first contact point consumers have with a shelf product, understanding their subconscious responses to labeling delivers critical data for our customers," says Joseph Formosa, business development manager for Vacumet, a division of Irvine, Calif.-based Scholle Corp. that specializes in creating package labels from metallic and holographic papers.

Russ Dunham is chief client officer of Berkeley, Calif.-based Nielsen NeuroFocus.

"We will see more brands leveraging packaging to further convey their commitment to environmental responsibility."

—Erin Reynolds, Evergreen Packaging