Creative Challenges in Organic Food Packaging

The rise in the demand for organic food is a sign of rising health and environmental consciousness amongst consumers who are eager to remove chemicals from their food and want to do their bit for the environment. When you are catering to health and environmentally conscious consumers, you have to make sure that along with the food, the packaging is also chemical-free and sustainable. However, when it comes to organic food packaging, manufacturers face a lot of challenges.

Compete With Established Conventional Food Market

The developing organic food market has to compete with the already established conventional food market. Not only is the conventional food market huge, but conventional food products are also much cheaper than organic food. Therefore, to create a space in this highly competitive food market, the organic food market has to come up with creative food packaging. For example, you can use standy pouch, which is also called stand up pouch, with eye-catching graphics to ensure that your products stand out from the other products. The packaging is an effective marketing tool and when rightly used, it can establish a brand in no time. Manufacturers of organic food have to make sure that their packaging is unique, convenient to use, and has eye-catching graphics on the surface.

Cater to a Niche Market

Organic food caters to a niche market, where the consumers have a high level of awareness about the need to eat a chemical-free diet and to protect the environment from harmful chemicals and human activities. In other words, organic food producers not only have to ensure that their food is pesticide and chemical-free but also have to ensure that their packaging is also chemical-free and environmentally sustainable. Thankfully today there are many environmentally friendly packaging options available like,

• Paper
• Flexible Packaging
• Wood
• Metal
• Reusable Flexible Packaging
• Cardboard
• BPA Free Containers

Growing consumer concern about the presence of chemicals in food and the use of hazardous materials in the food supply chain led to the improvement in the packaging options. The banning of Bisphenol A (BPA) in containers and the advent of flexible packaging, eco-friendly printing inks, and other environmentally friendly technology in packaging are good for the organic food industry. Now manufacturers can promise their customers chemically free organic food and sustainable packaging. Take the example of flexible packaging.

• It is cheaper to manufacture as compared to other plastic and conventional packaging because it requires fewer raw materials.
• It is very lightweight, so it is cheaper to transport and store. With flexible packaging, organic food producers cut down on fuel costs and thereby cut down on their carbon footprints.
• Flexible packaging is recyclable, reusable, and some are biodegradable. Moreover, less energy is spent on recycling flexible packaging than recycling conventional packaging. Here also the manufacturers are able to cut down on the carbon footprints of their businesses.

Organic Food Packaging Has to be About Transparency

Organic food is sold on the premises that it is chemical-free, healthy, high quality, and fresh. A big challenge before manufacturers is to convince the shoppers that their organic products are fresh, chemical-free and healthy so that they buy their products. So how do they convince the shoppers? The answer is in the packaging.

More and more manufacturers are using flexible packaging with transparent windows to package their organic food. The transparent window allows the customers to judge the quality and freshness of the product before buying it. Furthermore, these transparent windows in the packaging tell the customers that the manufacturer is transparent about the products. This transparency helps build trust and convey a message that they are dealing with a reputable brand.

Making Organic Food Cost-Effective

Organic food is more expensive than conventional food and this makes it very hard for organic food manufacturers to find their footing in the market. This is where cost-effective packaging can help the manufacturers to bring down the cost of organic food. When selecting packaging for their organic products, manufacturers have to make sure that they opt for packaging that offers protection, marketability, and affordability. Many manufacturers make the mistake of selecting very expensive packaging thinking that this will help their products compete with conventional food.

There is no doubt that expensive packaging is often eye-catching and may convince some consumers to buy your product. However, it will not help expand your brand in the long run. The fact is that not everyone can afford expensive organic food. The answer lies in flexible packaging, which is way cheaper than conventional packaging and can really bring down the price tag on many organic food items like, pulses, spices, sugar, etc. The cost of organic pulses packed in standy pouch is always less than the ones packed in glass, metal, or BPA free plastic containers.

Finding Packaging That Improves Shelf Life

Since organic foods are preservative-free, they have a shorter shelf life than conventional food products. So it is a challenge for organic food producers to find packaging that improves the shelf life of their organic products. Thankfully, the latest innovations in packaging have greatly improved the shelf life of organic food and allow them to effectively compete against conventional food. One such latest innovation is the oxygen-absorption technology by Mitsubishi Gas Chemical America.

This latest technology, which is in resin form, is layered into a barrier film and is very effective in absorbing oxygen. This technology is so effective that it can bring down the oxygen level to 0.1 percent or less in sealed packaging. Packaging that uses this oxygen absorption technology can help double the shelf life of organic food items like, prepared meals, baked snacks, soups, and sauces. We know that oxidation causes molding and negatively affects the taste, color, and texture of the food. So by reducing the chance of oxidation, this latest technology helps improve the shelf life of organic food.

Keeping Organic Food Free from Contamination

Like the other conventional food items, organic food items also have to be protected from dust, moisture, insects, pests, oxygen, chemicals, fungal, and other physical contaminants. The added challenge with organic food items is that they are preservative and chemical-free, so they are more prone to contamination. However, effective and good packaging can solve this problem to a large extent. Flexible packaging with multiple barrier films is quite effective in preventing food from getting contaminated. Flexible packaging not only prevents oxidation, but is quite effective in preventing dust, moisture, and air from spoiling the packed organic food. If you go for other forms of packaging like glass containers, plastic containers, or paper bottles, you have to make sure that the packaging is effective against contamination.

Organic food is a growing market and with effective packaging solutions in the form of standy pouch, flexible pouch, transparent packaging, and a zipper pouch, this market is only going to expand. With the right packaging, manufacturers of organic food can make serious inroads into the conventional food market.

Sebastian

Sebastian was born and raised in the busy city of Abbottabad. As a journalist, Saad Mushtaq has contributed to many online publications including the PAK Today and the Huffing Post. In regards to academics, Saad Mushtaq earned a degree in business from the Abbottabad UST, Havelian. Saad Mushtaq follows the money and covers all aspects of emerging tech here at The Hear Up.Thanks