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Functionality, shelf life, cost – Understanding priority
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Monday, 01 June, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Sethunath Padmanabhan
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fiogf49gjkf0d Mumbai, 1990: A ten- year-old finishes his last spoon of Horlicks. His mother, cleans up the glass jar, dries it up and ‘re-uses’ it to fill up some snacks, pulses or pickles and lines it up on the shelf with other earlier Horlicks glass jars. She seems to have collected quite a few over the months. She is happy as her son enjoys the taste of Horlicks and she saves up on cost of buying a new jar.
Today: We are all familiar with the above scenario. All of us having witnessed the women in our house retain ‘XYZ’ product containers and reuse them to preserve groceries. Is the picture any different now? Today we have a larger variety of these containers. We are truly spoilt for choice - From glass jars, to PET to flexibles - all available in various shapes, sizes and colours.
Indian F&B packaging has evolved to become more elaborate in terms of design while retaining its primary function of storage and preservation. But, have you ever wondered why a certain brand has chosen let’s say ‘PET’ over glass packaging? What could be the reason behind it?
Yes, the scale and cost of production does play a big role in the choice of packaging which in turn drives the brand owner to uninterruptedly innovate the container. Companies have faced a major pressure of cost optimisation in the last few years. This in turn led them to look for alternative packaging options, which made optimum use of packaging material and, were hence more cost-effective while they still preserved the contents perfectly. With the growth in modern retail which has considerably increased the sales of branded F&B products, the brand owners need to find a perfect balance with functionality, product life and cost.
Right packaging helps to increase the sale of the product. Recall how Marico created an entire new category in oil through its packaging innovation. Oil was traditionally packaged in tins. Later came plastic containers. These were followed by wide mouth containers for winter, textured containers to reduce the feel of oiliness on them, containers with new shapes which were also very functional, etc. Another interesting example would be the south-based brand Indulekha which included a comb in its packaging and marketed its product extensively on the idea of combing.
Does packaging have an impact on the contents inside? Does this affect the product’s shelf life? Definitely! The packaging innovation should take into consideration the nature of the product and its intended use. For example Powder health drinks are always sold in air-tight containers which can be re-sealed air-tight after every use. This is because the powder can form lumps and get spoilt when exposed to humidity. Brand owners need to keep such things in mind when deciding on the packaging. Also as mentioned above, we love to recycle old containers; the packaging should be reusable even after its contents are used up.
How does the packaging affect the consumer? You must have noticed that, while buying soft drinks some have a preference for glass bottles, others prefer cans while many others prefer PET bottles. When questioned, the brand owners affirm that the taste of the content remains the same irrespective of the type of packaging. Even though the brand vouches for consistency in flavour and quality of the product, consumers have their own preferences and biases based on the packaging.
The growth in food processing in India is exponential. With more ready-to-eat products with minimum reduced shelf lives available, packaging needs to serve its primary objective of preserving the contents. As more and more products are added to shelves every day, the good news for the consumers is that with more competition amongst brands they can expect better offers on products; but India’s compliance machinery is still developing. There is greater pressure on brand owners to deliver the right packaging to the customer at the correct cost. Trends show that India is moving towards flexible packaging. It has many advantages - it is smaller in size, lighter, easy to transport and can be changed frequently.
With so many factors playing an important role in the final packaging of the product, which one would you prefer? Horlicks in a glass bottle or in a colourful PET jar, the bottle which matches your older Horlicks glass jar collection or the one with a free gift? Think about it…
(The author is managing director at Diadeis Alia)
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