Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/673312
52 Tea & Coffee Trade Journal | www.teaandcoffee.net I n The Road Not Taken, Robert Frost wrote, "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by…" This beloved poem is full of deep meaning about life's decisions: the con- templation of which road is better; the rationalization of thinking you'll come back another day to the one forsaken and the realization that you probably won't; the impact the decision will have on you and the difference it will make in your life. You may ask, "What on earth does this have to do with packaging?" Well, the poem speaks to the mystery of making a choice: that spark in our brains that powers our hands to grab a particular package or click a button to place an order. How do people choose one package over another? Why do they choose what they choose? Will they regret their choices? A coffee roaster does many things to try to get a coffee drinker to choose its cof- fee. It builds its reputation. It creates qual- ity products. It sends marketing messages and "buzzes" social media. People speak about it by word of mouth. But at the intersection of a decision, nothing speaks louder to your prospective customer than the packaging that contains your product. How can the package best be used to speak about its goodness at that critical moment of choice? There are two import- ant ways. The first way is the conveyance and visual confirmation that the package is protecting something good inside. The second way is the aesthetic look and feel of the package to the potential consumer. Conveyance and visual confirmation that the package is protecting something good has much to do with a perception about what is happening with the "behind the scenes" function of the package. Your customer may not think about how the packaging material is preventing air from getting into the package or how the air will oxidize the volatile flavor components and create stale and bad flavors. They may not think about the one-way degassing valve allowing coffee to freshly de-gas inside the package without ballooning it. They will, however, have formed uncon- scious ideas about the kind of packaging that contains delicious products, and they will remember products in packages they have tasted in the past that were good. When they purchase a product, hopefully it will leave a good taste in their mouths, a good taste that may tip their choic- es towards that product the next time, resulting in the coveted repeat purchase. Accomplishing these behind-the- scenes functions are vital, but simple. The proven key to keeping coffee tasting fresh is to separate oxygen away from the cof- fee by sealing it in a gas-tight package as quickly as possible after roasting and to let the coffee also de-gas through a one-way only degassing valve on the package. The best material for keeping oxygen away is aluminum foil, and the best way to seal is by heat. The best valve is one that can maintain a low percentage of oxygen inside the package over large numbers and time. First Impressions Count The aesthetic look and feel of the package can often "make or break" a product. Getting the right look starts with material choices and graphic design. Should it be a matte finish or a gloss finish? What colors will draw the customer to this particular package? Should there be a busy design or a simple, understated design? Not unlike clothing and home décor, there are fashion trends in package looks. In the 1980s, men wore short shorts, and women had big hair. At that time, the popular packaging trend was a shiny bag to show off the newly minted flexible pack- aging "plastic foil" look. The shiny look matched the familiar aluminum coffee can and differentiated the coffee package from the non-flavor preserving paper sacks that people used to carry coffee home from the grocery store. As any former short-shorts, big hair wearer will tell you, fashion trends change. The same is true with packaging. Now, we want muted matte looks and are putting actual paper over top of the shiny foil to give a natural look. Packaging providers can guide their clients into what trends they see on the market. A pro- vider who is deeply embedded in coffee packaging knows what their cutting-edge customers are choosing for package looks. Seek Professional Help In addition to the packaging provider, collaborating with a professional design- er who knows packaging and packaging trends is often a smart choice. With today's technology, a few days of online tutorials and a small investment in Photoshop, many people can create a do-it-yourself design that looks pretty good. However, engaging a professional designer can be a great investment for a number of reasons. The first is that someone who knows packaging can guide clients through the somewhat mysterious process of getting a vision from inside their minds and on to the outside of a package. Second, design- ers can save time and get the package to market faster by knowing how to present the graphics on the package template in a way that is usable by the packaging pro- vider. They will know how many colors can be printed using existing technology. They can handle file uploads in the proper format. Third, designers can help proof- packaging Make Them Look: The Power of Packaging No matter how good a product is on the inside, the outside packaging can "make or break" it if not professionally executed. By William J. Walters Photo courtesy of Pacific Bag, Inc.