Designing Your Perfect Pet Food Bags

Designing Your Perfect Pet Food Bags

When you think about your pet food packaging, your first thought might be the breed you’ll feature on the package graphic, or which icons can best showcase the nutrition that lies inside. But it’s important to remember that before you can paint a picture of your product, you need to select the right canvas.
From zip closures to flat bottom pouches, your consumers come to the pet food aisle with certain expectations for packaging quality, whether they realize it or not. What are the important elements driving whether pet parents pick up your bag or the one sitting next to it?
 
CHOOSING YOUR BAG STYLE
If we could turn the clock back half a century, we’d see stores chockful of paper bags. Since that time, design options have expanded significantly, offering pet food brands new ways to help their bag stand out from the pack. Below is a pick list of today’s most popular bag styles, according to one of our package partners.
 

• Stand Up Pouch: For package weights 1 to 8 lbs., stand up pouches are the most economical option on the packaging menu. However, given the amount of mandatory regulatory and government information now required and the market trend toward higher-end products, two-panel stand up pouches have largely lost their popularity in the pet food aisle with the exception of treats.
• Side Gusset Pouch: If you’re looking for options for economical larger-volume bags, the quad seal bag is a good starting point. This can be an advantageous choice for brands looking to increase their canvas to 4 panels while remaining cost-effective. If you are looking for a resealable closure, the option is available, albeit compromised in this style. The side gusset pouch (also known as quad seal bag) merchandises well, typically found lying down on the lower shelves.
• Flat Bottom Pouch: Flat bottom pouches are relatively new to the market, and despite their slightly higher price tag, have taken off in popularity in recent years. This style suits products from 2 lbs. up to 25 lbs. For smaller volumes, the package stands well with excellent shelf utilization. Lying down with its flat bottom facing out for 10- to 18-lb. bags, it provides the perfect face to market your brand, with plenty of panels leftover for feeding and nutritional information.
• Pinch Bottom Pouch: Pinch-bottom bags, with or without fold-over bottoms, are ideal for larger-volume packages. Because large bags are often housed on the bottom shelf, be sure to optimize the bottom 3 to 4 inches of the face, which is a focus for consumers from this vantage point.

 
CONCLUSION
So, what do all of these packaging decisions amount to in the success of your product? A lot. Unlike your ultimate customer – a hungry dog or cat – pet owners do not build a firsthand experience with the product inside. They can’t taste the lamb you imported from Australia and that perfect blend of crunch and chew in each piece of kibble. Therefore, you must create packaging with value: packaging that says, “You don’t need to pour my contents into an empty bin for storage.” You want a bag that screams function and promises freshness, so pet owners are reminded of your brand and its value at each and every meal.
 
Source from: Alphia
 
 
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