The 4 Rules of Effective Coffee Packaging

Coffee is an incredibly popular product, and the competition in the sector is huge. It’s not enough to have a great story or unique variation if you want to be able to compete in this market space. Not only does your branding and product have to be on point, but your coffee’s packaging could end up making or breaking the sale. It’s essential that your packaging meets the high expectations of picky customers if you’re going to convince them to buy your brand again. Here are the 4 rules of effective coffee packaging.

Promote the Brand

Your packaging has to sell the product, and the design should reflect your branding. You could choose to boldly display the brand’s colors and logo or put the brand’s signature in a more subtle location. The branding on the packaging should also reflect your general brand message, or it won’t impress your loyal followers.

If they can’t see the branding, people looking for your product on the shelves will miss it. Also, you won’t get anywhere with a long narrative printed on the back if the packaging doesn’t convince them to pick it up and look at it. This is why your brand’s packaging must promote the brand even to those simply scanning the shelves.

Protect the Coffee

The packaging must also protect the coffee, and this is true whether you’re selling whole beans, ground coffee or flavoring. You will need to select materials that protect the product from manufacturing to the store shelf to the customer’s pantry. You can also use traditional materials like coffee cans or cutting-edge materials that impress buyers. However, the material you select must always keep the coffee fresh and protect the contents from contamination.

Prepare Your Product for the Retail Environment

Boxes, cans and other types of packaging all have their pros and cons. However, your product will only be popular with retailers if it meets their needs as well as those of the customer.

One option you could go for is coffee pouches. They take up less space than other kinds of packaging both during transport and on the shelf. They also have the benefit of weighing much less than other options.

Services like The PKG Lab allow you to integrate your branding onto pouches made specifically for coffee with useful features that customers demand, like easy-open tops and re-sealable bags. This makes seasonal marketing practical and affordable, whether you’re offering candy-cane coffee for Christmas or pumpkin spice coffee for Halloween. You can also roll out unique artisanal products. These products could be offered for a limited time or as a trial run before you invest in mass production.

Tell People What They Want and Need to Know

Your brand name, branding scheme and marketing slogans matter, but you will lose the sale if you don’t tell people what they want and need to know. Don’t leave out details that are essential to the customer, whether it is confirming that the product is organic and fair trade or warning them of potential issues with added flavorings. For example, customers should know when the flavoring is natural or artificial, and they need to know when you’re including sweeteners like sugar. Sell by dates may be legally required, but roast dates are important to the customer with discerning tastes.

Even if you have the best product, you’ll have trouble competing if your packaging isn’t up to par. Not only will good packaging allow your product to stand out, but it will speak to the type of customer you’re trying to attract.