Consumer convenience is a value-added packaging feature that helps set products and brands apart, making them distinctive on store shelves and display racks. The key to keeping up with the consumer-convenience trend is embracing evolving packaging technologies while remaining cost-competitive.

Jorge Izquierdo, vice-president of market development at The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI), and exhibiting suppliers at PMMI’s PACK EXPO International 2018, being held Oct. 14-17 in Chicago, provide observations about the latest consumer-convenient packaging trends within the baking and snack market and the associated cost-benefit ratio challenges.

Resealable packaging on the rise

For products such as bagged or pouched chips in larger sizes, the resealable function is highly prized. Demand continues to grow in the baking and snack category for integrated bag and pouch solutions that can reliably deliver easy-open and airtight resealable packaging, said Mr. Izquierdo.

With sustainability always a concern for consumers, the degree to which these packages are easily recyclable can play a role in consumer favorability ratings. Still, customer experience and consistent product quality remains a significant measure of success. To help preserve product freshness and integrity for food not consumed immediately, resealable bags and pouches often require gas-barrier film and/or foil structures. This is a cost that baking and snack manufacturers need to consider when calculating packaging budgets and balancing cost-benefit ratios.

Focusing on consumer-convenient packaging that prioritizes freshness, Toray Plastics, Inc. (Booth N-6275), offers a diverse portfolio of film structures to meet the full spectrum of packaging requirements for baking and snack manufacturers.

“Consumers want convenient packaging in the form of regular or stand-up pouches with portion-control, transparency, easy-open and resealable designs, but perhaps most importantly, they want the assurance that the product is fresh,” said Tammy Williamson, associate product manager for Toray’s Torayfan Division. “A brand’s reputation hinges on the freshness of its products. CPG companies are responding with package designs made with stronger, lighter-weight, high-performance barrier films that are better able to protect product freshness and extend shelf life.”