We all know just how important packaging and presentation are for food. We buy and eat food, and nobody wants to eat something that looks awful. Yet, like it or not, we are influenced by a product’s presentation - not only by its perceived goodness or value for money.
How much thought do the poultry and egg industries apply to the appearance of packaging?
In my blog shortly before Christmas, I posted a couple of examples of egg packaging/presentation that really achieved shelf standout, but what else is happening?
I must say that, from my trips to the local supermarket, I remember one label attached to a whole chicken, but mainly, when I think of the poultry aisle, all I remember is rows and rows of white and some not very nice blue foam trays that really show up any blood. No one presentation seems to jump out from the others where chickens are concerned.
Eggs boxing clever
My local supplier of eggs has been stocking blue eggs and orange eggs and the boxes, with glossy photographs of the eggs, are either blue or orange. I am afraid to say that the packaging made me part with my money for the blue ones despite them being more expensive than the standards eggs.
Of course, with meat, people are used to seeing what is behind the plastic wrapping and we feel we can judge quality by looking. The cost of packaging is also highly important for a product that is marketed as an everyday item and not an indulgence. And supermarkets are very particular about what they want and don’t want, and in many instances insist on their own label. Further processed products, it seems, offer a bit more scope.
But packaging does not have to be a bland affair. It can make the product stand out and resonate with the purchaser. It can present the product as being different or superior, as giving the purchaser more than the simple basic.
Does anyone use Pinterest? There is a group called Packaging Pick of the Day where some really great examples of attractive and even humorous packaging are posted. There’s soup, sausages, sandwiches, milk and bread, but so far I’ve only seen one egg box and no chicken!
Should anybody be considering a packaging redesign, the page is worth a visit. And if you have any good examples of innovative or particularly eye catching packaging for chicken or eggs, I’d love to see them.
