The packaging as a package of happiness

Packaging has a clear purpose, especially with food. The user with his wishes and expectations is by no means always the starting point. Ensuring food safety is. And the choice of form, material and execution is often also about the lowest possible costs, and what is technically feasible. 

The fact that the user is not always on the same page is something we all experience on a daily basis. Think of the short and too tightly sealed tabs of a meat product packaging: for people with little grip and no strength in their hands impossible to open without scissors. Or the annoyance with packaging that always leaves some residual product behind; a shame! By the way, it's not only in consumer packaging that design teams often miss the mark, I recently discovered. During a tour of a factory, the director proudly showed me his warehouse. I walked along meters-high racks, with the stocks neatly and tidily stacked on the shelves. Somewhere further on, a forklift worker was working on an enormous bigpack on a pallet. He wanted to put it on a shelf. But the pack was too big and too heavy. The pallet couldn't handle the weight, broke, and collapsed with the bag. The bag tore, the contents spread out on the floor. The contents, the product, was thrown away.

How often do you delve into the person who comes into contact with your packaging? Do you know how your product is delivered and received, how it is unpacked and processed? Are you talking to your users? Do you ever ask yourself the question: 'Does this packaging make the user of my product happy? You can even go a step further: turn your product into a living being in your mind and let it speak to you. It makes you look at the matter just a little differently. By doing so, you automatically get to other important aspects, because a product that is proud of itself wants to arrive safely and present itself nicely to its user: "Look here I am! Aren't I beautiful, functional and handy, huh? Tadaaa!" 

It can even lead to something new: a loop in the seal, in which you can hook a finger for more grip. A packaging that allows you to stand out from the crowd. Think of your product as the total sum of all the attention and love that has been put into it. And don't forget to put a bow around it. 

Pieter Vos

Director Nutrilab