Snacks are natural and nutritious dry foods ready for immediate consumption, often used for a quick snack.
Snack products include: chips, nuts and pistachios, seeds, crackers, dried fruit, popcorn, corn sticks, crackers, cereals, granola, straws, and fish snacks (squid, dried fish, rings, etc.).
The highest sales levels in the snacks market are observed in the potato chips segment – 30% of total sales. The second place is occupied by the segment of breadcrumbs and seeds, the third place is taken by nuts (of all kinds).
Recently in Ukraine there has been a decrease in the level of consumption of snack products. This is due to the deterioration of the economic situation in the country and a decrease in the purchasing power of the population. In addition, snacks are not considered as one of the basic food products, so the consumption of snack products depends on the advertising activity of manufacturers and branding.
Among other things, there is a very high level of competition in the Ukrainian snack food market, which is why manufacturers are looking for ways to attract new customers. For example, by expanding assortment positions, applying marketing communication tools, advertising means and creating original packaging design.
Features of snack food packaging
The main features of snack products are high fat content of products, low moisture content, and susceptibility to foreign odor.
In this regard, snack food packaging should:
– Possess high barrier properties;
– Retain fats, colorants and flavorings in the package without allowing them to escape;
– Retain flavor properties during the long shelf life of the product;
– Protect the product from external environmental influences;
– Have increased moisture and heat resistance;
– Must not allow light, oxygen and water vapors to pass through.
Metallized and transparent polypropylene film can cope with such tasks.
Types of snack food packaging:
1. Polypropylene – clear or metallized, can be either single or double-layer;
2. Double-layer laminated materials such as ORR/RE, ORR/ORRmet, ORR/SRR, RET/RE;
3. Laminated materials with double layer, interlayer printing and metallization.
For packaging of fish snacks (seafood), polyethylene and lavsan based laminates with interlayer printing are most often used. Since this material meets the high requirements for barrier properties and durability necessary for storage of fish snacks. As a rule, manufacturers choose three-seam bags with notches on the sides for easy opening of the package by the consumer.
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The packaging for nuts, chips, potato chips and seeds must be able to hold colorants, vegetable oils and flavorings well inside the package, which is why the following types of containers are used for these products:
1. Laminated material based on metallized or transparent polypropylene film;
2. Triplex laminated material based on polyethylene, metallized polypropylene film and lavsan.
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Sometimes to give the product a more expensive and elite appearance, manufacturers use a matte polypropylene film.
Most of the snacks market products are produced in flexible packaging (89%), primarily due to the physical and chemical properties of packaging, as well as its “weightlessness” and lightness, low cost. However, sometimes manufacturers use cardboard packaging and tin cans for packing snack products – for chips, crackers and nuts.
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Snack food packaging design: general trends
Label and packaging design is a powerful means of influencing the consumer and one of the main tools in the competitive struggle of manufacturers. In addition to the function of product storage and transportation, today packaging must also attract attention, inform and advertise, arouse interest and stimulate sales.
What design tools and branding tricks do snack food manufacturers use in package design?
General trends in snack food packaging design:
1. Chips packaging design. On the packaging of chips manufacturers mostly use bright and beautiful full-color images of the chips themselves and products or sauces, emphasizing the taste differences. The flavor palette is also emphasized by the use of different colors in the package design.
Quite often a funny and cheerful character is used in the package design:
Recently, due to the popularity of the healthy eating trend and the increasing demand for natural products, chip manufacturers have begun to emphasize the purity and naturalness of the products used in the composition of chips, as well as the eco-friendliness of the packaging itself:
Another new trend is the expansion of the range of products offered by manufacturers, with completely new types of chips, such as apple, rice or corn chips, and even fruit and berry chips:
2. Packaging for breadcrumbs. There are two main themes in the design of breadcrumbs packaging – emphasis on the naturalness of the products and their usefulness:
As well as a humorous presentation of the product:
Another means of competition for producers was to offer the market new flavor variations and new types of breadcrumbs, for example, soft breadcrumbs:
3. Packaging of nuts and dried fruits. There are several main trends in the design of nuts and dried fruits packaging:
– Creating the effect of “premium” and elite high quality products through packaging.
– Using funny characters in the design to humorously present the products to the consumer.
– Emphasis on the benefits and naturalness of the products offered.
4. Fish snacks packaging design. The packaging of fish snacks most often reflects the marine theme, the theme of traveling and distant voyages. The basic elements of design are various attributes of ships and sea elements: anchor, steering wheel, maps, waves, sails and so on. In the design, most often used blue, sea wave color, shades of brown and yellow.
5. Seed packaging. Several main design trends can also be distinguished in the design of seed packaging:
– Use of funny characters related to the product itself: hero seed, sun sunflower, funny Mexican, hamster Homka, etc.
– Creating “premium” products using design tools, with a “rich” color palette of black and gold being the most common.
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– Building communication with the consumer by creating an associative series: hot sun, juicy sunflowers, endless fields, natural seeds.
If you produce snacks in Ukraine and you need professional help in developing effective and competitive packaging, KOLORO branding agency is at your service!
You can find up-to-date market research of the snacks market in Ukraine in our blog.
