Nowadays, people want quick solutions to everything. And when I say everything, I mean truly everything! Take food, for example. As more people find themselves with less time to cook, ready-to-eat meals are becoming a popular choice.
With the rise in popularity, a lot of food companies are stepping in to produce ready-to-eat food. But that means there’s a high level of competition in the market to grab customers’ attention. The only way to attract customers is the packaging for your ready-to-eat food.
Packaging plays a big role in making your product stand out amidst similar products, as many buying decisions happen in-store. A well-designed package can make the food inside irresistible. In this blog, we’ll explore why good packaging is key for ready-to-eat food and what makes it work.
Table of Contents
Why is packaging design important in the ready-to-eat food industry?
1. Consumer Attraction
When people are shopping, your products should be able to quickly catch their eye. Good ready-to-eat food packaging design helps elevate your brand image. It can make your product seem more valuable, making customers more likely to pick it up. The size, shape and materials of the packaging can all affect this factor. So, opting for creative and practical packaging makes your product more appealing and easier to choose.
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2. Brand Identity
The packaging design of your ready-to-eat food acts as a medium to showcase your brand identity. In fact, effective branding in your packaging design can also set your product apart from its competitors. You can include things in your packaging that you want your customers to know about your business, like your story, values and specialities. It can help boost recognition and loyalty among your customers.
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3. Functional Design
When it comes to ready-to-eat food packaging, the functionality matters a lot. The packaging needs to be practical and keep the food fresh and protected. And it should also work as a container to cook in and eat from. For example, imagine if cup noodles couldn’t be cooked in the same cup they come in; that wouldn’t have been convenient at all, right? So, ready-to-eat meals should have the right materials and a packaging design that does things effectively.
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Steps on How to Choose the Right Packaging Design for Your RTE Food Product
Here are the four main steps on how to choose the right ready-to-eat food packaging design for your brand.
1. Understanding Your Target Audience
First and foremost, you need to get to know your customers. Research thoroughly what they like, what they need, and what they expect. Consider how cultural, social, and environmental factors might affect their choices.
Most often, customers of ready-to-eat meals are people who want to enjoy tasty and healthy meals without the hassle of shopping for and preparing ingredients. Your packaging should clearly show why your product is worth choosing. Ultimately, your ready-to-eat food packaging should match the people you’re trying to sell to.
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2. Balancing Cost and Quality
As a design agency, we know how expensive packaging can be, especially for ready-to-eat meals. These meals need top-notch materials that provide multiple layers of protection, so balancing the cost and quality of the packaging is a must.
Typically, packaging accounts for about 10% of your product’s total cost. Hire an experienced supplier who understands your business needs and can help reduce expenses. Also, if you’re on a budget, make sure you choose materials that don’t affect the quality and functionality of your packaging.
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3. Testing and Feedback
One of the most important steps in creating good packaging is testing its different aspects, gathering feedback on them and then implementing them to improve the packaging design. You need to assess the colour scheme, fonts and overall visual appeal.
It’s also essential to test the durability and practicality of the packaging to check if it’s user-friendly, easy to open, handle, store, and dispose of. Various methods, such as market research, polls, surveys, focus groups, and A/B testing (which involves comparing different versions of the packaging), can be used to gather feedback before or after launching your product.
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4. Case Studies
Smart packaging design can really make a brand stand out. Look around you. Case studies from leading global brands show just how powerful good packaging design can be. They demonstrate how good packaging can build a strong brand, make a product different from others and even increase sales.
Design has played a big role in turning businesses into famous brands around the globe, like Coca-Cola. So, go through case studies of other brands in the ready-to-eat meals industry and see what you can learn from them.
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Here We Have Collected 36+ Innovative Ready-to-Eat Food Packaging Designs
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Conclusion:
The ready-to-eat food packaging design should resonate with your target audience and make your product stand out. Before creating or testing your food packaging, it’s important to understand your customers’ preferences clearly. It’ll help you understand how the different branding elements influence their emotions and buying choices.
We hope our tips on how to create great packaging for your ready-to-eat food help you immensely. As a branding & packaging design agency, we work closely with our clients to design solutions that fit their unique needs. So, if you have any doubts or need any help with your next project, we are here to help. Consult us today and get the best packaging solutions for your brand!
Author: Megha Malik
As a passionate entrepreneur and creative brand consultant with experience of 14 years in digital, branding and packaging industry, it is my honest effort to put my experiences and knowledge of industry towards readers. A chartered accountant by degree but a marketing personality in blood has motivated her to take in designing industry as a career. With her fun-loving personality and sharp branding skills, she is a great motivational speaker on her YouTube channel, an active member in various business channels offline as well as online. Do connect me personally via my LinkedIn and I love to share my expertise with you.