Themed Week Product Safety: Impress consumers with packaging safety

Even people who don’t give much thought to brands will tend to fall back on familiar names when they travel abroad. Why? Because consumers instinctively feel they can trust the brand name beverages and packaging they know.

Today’s packaging has to be multifaceted: Design, feel, convenience and sustainability all have to be just right to sway the consumer. At the same time, the importance of product safety is gaining momentum. Consumers are becoming more discerning: They worry about contaminants or containers without their original seal. Maintaining a high level of safety is crucial to trust – and, in turn, serves as an image booster. This is where marketing comes in: Packaging plays a pivotal role because it is the point of physical contact between the consumer and the product.

Providing state-of-the-art safety to the consumer

Visually, the consumer first encounters packaging safety with the cap. An original seal on a screw cap can demonstrate the product has not seen any tampering. Tamper-resistant tapes and labels attached to the cap serve the same purpose. Manufacturing and filling processes are, however, generally complete unknowns for the consumer.

Marketing: Using information to establish trust

Dispelling fear of contamination gets a boost from marketing at this stage: The consumer’s sense of trust grows when a company diligently and effectively attempts to identify and review all potential risks. You can communicate information about the microbiological and chemical testing the packaging undergoes prior to use. Or the sophisticated inspection methods used to identify foreign bodies after filling. Recycling systems detect residues in bottles before cleaning begins, and highly sensitive camera systems expose foreign bodies, contaminants and damage before filling. Informing the consumer about these safety measures can also convey a sense of security.

Using traceability to gain trust

At drinktec, you can learn all about traceability methods that establish an unbroken information chain and gain consumers’ confidence. In today’s world, trust is crucial to the consumer’s buying decision. Thanks to digitalization, individual codes on packaging provide consumers with information and a transparent production process that goes beyond just traceability. It also offers an additional advantage: Marketing can use this as a tool for campaigns. Information can, for example, be accessed using a smartphone. This also brings the manufacturer into direct contact with the consumer, and marketing teams can learn more about the customer’s needs and wishes.

A little extra something: When consumers purchase a beverage with drink safe, they benefit from the ultimate in hygiene: This bottle lock prevents anyone from accidentally using someone else’s bottle.  Placed over the bottle cap, it is secured with a combination lock. This means consumers are able to take safety into their own hands.

Packaging safety is one of the topics addressed at drinktec. The Innovation Flow Lounge offers marketing experts a unique platform and a highly innovative source of inspiration.

Besides the Innovation Flow Lounge, the drinktec program features many more highlights relevant to beverage marketing that cover development, product innovations, packaging and marketing.

The Innovation Flow Lounge is supported by:

• Döhler
• FoodBev Media
• KHS
• Sahm GmbH