AEB tests if premium packaging designs can increase egg sales

The American Egg Board’s (AEB) packaging task force is looking for ways that packaging and point-of-sale marketing can be employed to rev up retail egg sales.

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The original Ford Mustang was essentially a Ford Falcon with different sheet metal skin, which shows the outside of the package can make a big difference in consumer perception.
The original Ford Mustang was essentially a Ford Falcon with different sheet metal skin, which shows the outside of the package can make a big difference in consumer perception.

How much difference can changing the outer appearance of a product label or carton make in a consumer’s perception of the overall likeability and value of a product? Perhaps the most striking example is the original Ford Mustang, which shares most of its under-the-skin components with the Ford Falcon. The Falcon could best be described as dependable, reliable transportation. But with little more than a change of the outer metal skin, the 1964 and a half Ford Mustang was, and still is, perceived to be a whole lot more.

Searching for sizzle

Selling eggs may not be quite the same as selling automobiles, but the American Egg Board’s (AEB) packaging task force is looking for ways that packaging and point-of-sale marketing can be employed to rev up retail egg sales. Kevin Burkum, senior vice president, marketing, AEB, said that if a major brand like General Mills, Coca-Cola or Pepsi entered the egg business, then changing the packaging would be the first thing that they would do to make it more appealing, helpful and educational.

The egg packaging task force started its evaluation process by conducting a global audit of retail egg packaging being used in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Next, the task force tested packaging samples from around the world with U.S. consumers.

“We showed the packaging to consumers in focus group settings,” Burkum said. “Consumers are drawn to bright colors in general. The green color in particular connoted freshness. The farm scenes also resonated with consumers.”

He explained that there was a slight skew in the research results where consumers thought that the molded pulp cartons are more “sustainable” than the Styrofoam, but most consumers were used to Styrofoam and didn’t have a problem with these cartons.

Fine tuning the messaging

“From this qualitative research, the task force came up with two design directions. One was more of a nutritional messaging approach and the other was a farm imagery approach.” He said that, to his knowledge, this type of research had never been conducted before with eggs.

The nutritional messaging and farm imagery approaches were then tested with more than 1,000 consumers from around the country. Consumers were shown four carton designs: the two new ones - with either farm imagery or nutritional messaging as the theme - and a representative sample of two existing carton designs. The results of the research led to the development of AEB’s egg packaging best practices document (see sidebar).

Jerry Wilkins, sales and marketing director, Rocky Mountain Eggs, said that at least 65 percent of eggs sold at retail are private label, and that with premium or specialty private label eggs included, about 75 percent of retail eggs are sold in private label cartons. So, educating the retailers about the value of “premium” packaging for eggs is critical if egg producers want to see these suggested changes adopted.

Burkum said there isn’t a lot to get consumers excited about shopping the egg case, and that eggs have probably lost some shelf space in the dairy aisle to yogurt. He thinks that implementing the best practices identified in the consumer research could halt this trend. “As an industry, we have the opportunity to reinvent the whole egg case shopping experience,” he said.  

Field testing next

Wilkins, who is the task force’s chairman, said the group is in the final stages of designing a market trial of the new egg cartons for this fall. The trial is planned for the Chicago area, and the new carton designs will be tested side by side with an egg packer’s current carton design. Using a packer’s brand should allow for the carton changes to be tested in more than one retail chain, and in a variety of retail outlets from full-scale grocers to convenience stores. Wilkins said the task force would like for the retail test to run for 90 to 120 days.

In order to test whether an investment in a premium package will pay for itself, Wilkins suggested that the eggs packed in the new package styles likely would be marked up to cover the cost of the packaging. He explained that an applied label adhered to a standard pulp carton can have a 50 to 70 percent higher cost than the traditional pulp carton.

The field test will attempt to demonstrate to retailers that consumers will buy more eggs and pay a slightly higher price when the eggs are in a more attractive premium carton. Wilkins is hopeful that the test will yield positive results.

“We shop with our eyes,” he said. “Intent to purchase tends to improve with the better package. It is tough to break through that 94 percent market penetration" that eggs currently enjoy. He explained that the goal is to increase egg consumption among the 94 percent of households that already purchase eggs, and to shift light users to moderate users and moderate users to heavy users.

More work ahead

“Our research showed that just making some simple design changes (to the package) can increase likability twice as much compared to the current egg package,” Burkum said. “Without much cost, you can improve the perception of your package and, we think, improve your sales.” The field trial this fall will test whether these packaging changes translate to increased sales.

Even after the field trial, there will be plenty of work to keep the packaging task force busy. “We are looking at merchandising, messaging at the shelf, and what consumers are drawn to,” Burkum said. “Consumers continue to have questions about expiration dates and sell-by dates. We are learning a lot about what consumers are interested in and would like to see.”

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