What’s outside sells what’s inside. Your packaging is as important as what’s on the inside; strategic packaging supports a successful experience for you, your retailers, and your consumers. Hit the high points with the three “Ps”—a clever way to remember the most important goals of your food and beverage packaging.

It doesn’t matter if you’re selling organic carrots by the carton or delivering bottles of kombucha in six-pack bottle carriers, your packaging goals remain the same—promote, protect and preserve.

1. Promote.

You only get one chance to make a first impression, so make it a good one. According to research done by Explorer Research, you have a mere two seconds to grab a consumer’s attention.

Getting that first buy opens the door to repeat purchases and brand loyalty, so your packaging should both stand out and be memorable. You want retailers and consumers to recognize and remember—your brand, your product, your value. Your products should confidently appear shoulder-to-shoulder with category competitors, yet stand out as unique, and compel shoppers to put it in their carts. Your packaging must be aesthetically appealing, on-brand, and eye-catching.

Use your “billboard on the shelf” to highlight reasons for consumers to try your products, and provide usage tips that make consumers’ lives easier and better. Go the extra mile and extend your brand conversations with promotion-minded messaging on package. Give your brand deeper reach and control over your story using marketing tools built into your packaging. Educate, connect with, and delight your market using tools such as QR codes and links to landing pages for access to product tips, recipes, and your social media channels. These are effective, strategic add-ons to expand relationship-building opportunities with retailers and consumers.

2. Protect.

Every package—from the largest shipping carton to the smallest candy wrapper—provides an important shield to protect your products from start to finish. This protection must survive the journey from harvest and/or creation to the moment a consumer opens it to enjoy your product.

You also need to protect your company. Make sure your packaging meets the packaging regulations of the country(ies) where you sell your products to minimize potential recalls, legal action and delays. Most food manufacturers and importers are required to include specific nutritional labeling on their product packaging and often have formatting specifics on font size, weight, and placement. If your packaging makes nutrient content or health claims, there are additional regulations there. All of these regulations can change so it’s critical to verify if your products will be impacted before packaging production runs. Moxxy stays abreast of packaging regulations specific for food and beverages and will keep your packaging up-to-date and in compliance.

3. Preserve.

Maintaining product freshness and/or creating an optimal environment to encourage ripening—often within a determined time—is the third “P” in the packaging scenario. For fresh and perishable food items, this is especially important. Luckily, there are a myriad of packaging materials and packing options to assist in the preservation of freshness or and delay or accelerate maturation. Vacuum sealing, silicon packets, ethylene absorbent fiberboard, gas permeable membranes, freshness sachets, there’s a material or method available (and new options emerging) to support your specific products’ preservation needs.

Moxxy partners with several packaging companies to provide options for the unique array of food and beverage product packaging needs. We know the printing and production process, designing attractive, printer-friendly packaging. We provide accurate and easily produced files, keeping your business on schedule (helping you stay on budget).

Get these three Ps right and your packaging will serve you perfectly.

Need help getting your packaging aligned with the three “Ps”? Contact us for a food and beverage packaging audit to gain an informed view of your brand as it lives in the retail marketplace.