EMBiz: 6 Current Trends in Food & Beverage Packaging

Hi, Cody here, Content Director at Elevate My Brand. I want to bring you a couple of current trends in food and beverage branding right now. So this is changing constantly. As the times change, socio-political things change, as people's tastes change, as age demographics change, the food and beverage industry has always changed with it. So this is just what we see right now with our clients and with our prospects. 

1) Sustainable Food & Beverage Brands

The first is sustainability. It is a very common tactic right now to leverage all of those sort of like green elements of the food and beverage, if you're a restaurant about your sustainable packaging options or if you are a like food and beverage CPG brand messaging about how you're sourcing your ingredients or your even like your packaging in that regard as well. So we're seeing sustainability be a huge thing, and that is largely because of, you know, especially as Gen Z, who really holds climate change in high regard in terms of their like value sets and what they look for in brands. That's huge for the brands that are really leveraging that messaging to reach that audience. And also because a lot of times, unfortunately, there are more green options in terms of packaging or ingredients, do tend to be more expensive. So brands want to make sure they're leveraging that in the value that they're providing for their audience as well. So sustainability is a huge one, and that's why it's our number one. 

2) Local & Ethical Sourcing

Number two is local and ethical sourcing. So very similar to that. Specifically, on the like local and ethical side of brands, are being more straightforward and upfront about the local partners that they're using. If you are sourcing from a local farm or you are using a local artist in order to be able to create your packaging, your designs, social tiles or what have you, that's being a lot more transparent in the industry right now. And then the flip side of that is the ethical side of things. So even if you are using a big farm, right to source your products or ingredients or what have you, making sure that you're being clear about like what ethical decisions you're making and including that in your messaging to your customers. Because if people are between two different brands that are essentially the same, but one brand says that they are sourcing from a farm that is local to you, you're going to be more likely to choose that brand. So just making that connection between local and ethical farming. And again, the first two points here are really all about a values conversation. 

3) Alcohol-Free Drinks

Number three is alcohol free options. We've seen a lot lately where brands are making more alcohol free like mocktail kind of options. Especially as more and more people are participating in “Dry January” or making healthier choices in their lifestyle and habits, it's becoming increasingly more important for people to note that they have an alcohol free version of what they're providing. I personally have even seen things say alcohol free, where I'm like, I didn't even expect there to be alcohol in this. But it's an important messaging point to be able to call out to people who are alcohol free, who are being sober or dry, to say, hey, this product is for you, and to speak to them directly and make it more of a personal touch. 

4) Innovative Packaging

The fourth trend that we're seeing is more innovative packaging designs. So gone are the days of just let me put this in a rectangular box or let me just put this in a can. Brands are becoming more and more cognizant of the fact that people do choose food with their eyes. So you may have the most delicious product in the world, but if you just have plain, basic, boring, avoidable packaging, people are probably never going to be introduced to it. Especially if you have competitors who are really leaning into this innovative and cool design aspect. One example we've seen recently is Graza olive oil. Made a little bit of a splash by adding a squirt top to the top of their olive oil. A very minor like change, really, but it became really recognizable and an innovative and different choice. So even though it's a slightly different choice in terms of packaging, it had a big impact and really shook up the way that people see packaging for things like olive oil, which honestly have not changed in their packaging for a very long time. 

5) Single-Serve Products

The fifth one we see is single-serve options. So gone are the days of everything being huge, made for a family of four. A lot of companies are now moving to making more products single-serve. Whereas that's either changing their product entirely be single serve or providing a new single serve option. That can also be seen as a values conversation in terms of your sourcing. And so people are like, I'm not going to waste anything because rather than buying for two, I'm just buying for one. So a lot of brands are moving in that single-use or single-serve direction. 

6) Delivery Options

The sixth and final one is really lying or relying more on those e-commerce options. For example, we see that restaurants are using more and more of DoorDash, Uber Eats, and all of those services in order to provide more accessible, deliverable options. Because you know, some people are not going into physical locations. Especially in recent years, with all these scares around Covid and different health issues, and also as sometimes, transportation issues. There are a lot of things that have made it less accessible to go out to these restaurants. In order to survive and thrive, they're relying on these e-commerce options. We also see this with Instacart actually delivering people's groceries. So people are able to get their groceries, maybe not a pre-made meal, but they're getting their ingredients, relying on things like Instacart. And that's supporting the food and beverage industry. It's added a middle person in the delivery range, but it is allowing more food and beverage brands to reach more people. And then the third example there is with GoPuff providing like deliverable beverages, which personally I love. 

So those are the six trends that we're seeing right now in the food and beverage industry. Of course, tomorrow, a week from now, a year from now, those may be completely different. But right now, as a marketing agency that works a lot in the food and beverage industry, those are six common trends that we see in food and beverage. If you'd like some guidance on how to catch your food and beverage brand up on industry trends, connect with our marketing experts today.