fashioned food. For example, we have Hidden
Valley Ranch, Sun Country, Indian Summer,
Nutri-Grain, and, of course, Pepperidge Farm.
While these goods may not have any fewer
calories, they seem as if they would taste
good--αn<Z be good for you. The packaging
has descriptors like: "Garden Herb," "100%
Natural," "pressed only from fresh apples,"
"no added sugar and no artificial preserva-
tives." This information provided clearly on
the package is the advertisement at the point-
of-purchase.
What other information do consumers
want from the package? After nutrition, is
tamper evidency the next major challenge?
Will consumers demand to know that the food
is safe as well as healthy!
Third: A value-added package can
help the consumer transport the product
The busy consumer only has five to ten
minutes, stops off at the supermarket on his
way home, picks up a few things, want to run
through the 8-items-or-less line, get back in
the car and get home. Supermarkets provide
the most common transporter-package: the
bag at the check-out, either plastic or paper.
But consumers sometimes only buy one item
and, to save time, rush off with, "I don’t
need the bag." Some manufacturers are adding
value to their products by providing a package
that has its own transport device—for example,
a carton for single-serving containers. Canned
beverages have moved to plastic rings. Big
laundry detergents, which were always cumber-
some to carry home, now come with handles.
But how about paper towels or tissues in
big packs? These seem to require two hands
to pick up. Is this an opportunity for a man-
ufacturer to add value and distinguish itself
from competition?
How about fresh produce--it is very nice
for the consumer to pick out exactly the
tomato he or she wants. But the produce
ends up in a bag again--usually plastic—and
this bag gets dumped in the bottom of a paper
sack where the tomato gets squished on the
way home by the laundry detergent. Why not
a new value-added packaging innovation that
will help protect and transport the produce
you’ve picked out yourself?
While I have been focussing on packaged
goods sold through supermarkets, food service
operators have similar challenges. McDonald’s
packages were originally designed to be cost
effective in a fast-food, sit-down-and-eat
environment. But today, more than two-thirds
of the business is "Drive-thru." As we all
know, these packages are extremely difficult
to carry in your car. The paper bag does not
retain heat, and the fries are cold and soggy
in minutes, whether or not they have fallen
out of their container. The cold drink cup
sweats and, if you’re not careful, will fall
right through the bag. So taking this meal
home is nearly impossible; and we all know
how difficult it is to balance these containers
in the car. Here is another real packaging
problem for consumers that has not yet been
solved.
Improving at-home storage is
another way to add value
One hundred and fifty years ago, you
would bring your flour home and dump it in a
flour bin or a cannister. But today, most of
us do not have flour bins, and our jammed-
packed kitchens often don’t have room for
cannisters. So the bag of flour just goes in
the cabinet. Most food products these days
are left in their containers until they’re used.
So how do we add value to this basic
function? If it is a single-use container, we
need to be concerned with the ease of opening
and dispensing, but after that, the problems
are over--the container is thrown away. But
many of the foods today come in multiple-
serving containers, like flour. The package is
opened, product dispensed, then the package
needs to be resealed and put back on the
shelf or in the refrigerator.
Recently King-Casey conducted our own
study of food packaging problems from the
consumer’s point of view. We found that
despite all the advances--such as the added
convenience of squeezable bottles and micro-
wave-ready frozen foods--consumers still have
February 88/page 8
Journal of Food Distribution Research