Why your FMCG Products need a Packaging Review

For FMCG packaging, the effectiveness of your operations is vital to safeguarding product quality, promoting brand identity, enhancing consumer experiences, optimising supply chain efficiency, and ensuring regulatory compliance. But is your packaging as sustainable as it could be? Excessive materials waste, soaring costs, and high-volume refunds are just some of the indicators of FMCG packaging operations that aren’t quite up to scratch. That’s where we come in! We can help you solve these issues with a packaging review.

Packaging Reviews for FMCG Businesses

A packaging review is important to realise opportunities and address concerns surrounding your packaging. Whether that’s to look at reducing your plastic usage (think fillers like bubblewrap) your carbon footprint, or enhancing performance, a packaging review offers you invaluable assistance.

It might sound obvious to make sure packaging for FMCG products is up to scratch, but the stats speak for themselves. In 2021-2022, an estimated 49% of British shoppers claimed to have received damaged goods from an online purchase in the last year. Why would you want to risk your business’s reputation and have to swallow an increase in costs? Minimise this risk as much as possible with a packaging review which can help identify exactly how your current packaging can be improved to ensure products are delivered just as they left your factory.

What is a Packaging Review?

A packaging review involves assessing your existing packaging to identify areas for enhancement, and it’s an area we specialise in! We take a collaborative approach with our packaging review process, using your insights over your FMCG products and wider business model to create the most optimal and practical packaging solutions. This process ensures that your business can maximise the benefits of well-designed and bespoke cardboard packaging, leading to improved operational efficiency, satisfaction, and potential cost savings.

What does the Packaging Review Process Entail?

Through our collaborative process, we’ll identify weaknesses and opportunities across your packaging process, empowering you to make strategic improvements that deliver maximum benefits.

Our packaging review process includes several crucial steps that help us understand and address your business’s packaging needs and challenges.

Step 1:

We begin by listening to you so we can grasp your business’s packaging requirements. This step enables our team to understand your concerns, goals, and challenges related to the packaging of your FMCG products.

Earlier this year, we performed a packaging review for Aspire, a UK wholesaler and specialist manufacturer of headboards, beds, divan beds, and mattresses. We learnt about their new panel product, from production to sales, so we could really understand what Aspire needed the packaging to include. We were also able to get a first-hand perspective of Aspire’s internal processes, enhancing our brief back to our design team.

Step 2:

The next step involves deeper engagement. We like to visit your location to see your products, operations, and packaging processes in the flesh.

During this visit, our packaging experts will assess your current packaging solutions and strategies. Subsequently, we’ll offer recommendations that align with your business objectives and challenges. These recommendations span materials, design, sustainability, cost-efficiency, logistics, inventory management and more! Efficient warehouse organisation is part of the process because our review can help optimise space use, too.

Step 3:

After the on-site visit and recommendations, our design team begin to create a tailored FMCG packaging solution for your product(s).

Throughout this phase, our experts consider factors such as design aesthetics and branding, functionality, durability, environmental impact, and cost-effectiveness. The resulting packaging solution is crafted to enhance the durability and visual appeal of your cardboard packaging, whilst supporting your bottom line!

What Materials are Good for FMCG Packaging?

It’s essential to choose materials that effectively protect your products throughout their entire journey from warehouse to shop floor. These materials need to provide protection from physical damage, moisture, and other environmental factors. We also provide you with packaging solutions that optimise the materials used – we’re all fed up of receiving a product swamped by unnecessary fillings!

Our focus extends to exploring environmentally friendly alternative fillers, such as biodegradable or recyclable materials, which contribute to your ESG objectives. We also consider how packaging can be sealed with EcoTape to really enhance your sustainability credentials. Our expertise enables us to provide guidance in choosing the optimal materials that align with the unique needs of your product and distribution criteria.

What are the Benefits of a Packaging Review?

A packaging review brings heaps of practical benefits. It helps identify inefficiencies in packaging and reduces packing times without compromising quality. This is particularly important when you’re an FMCG business working with time-sensitive, perishable goods. It also prevents expenses from excess materials and supports a higher focus on sustainability. Overall, creating efficiency in your packaging process makes your job easier, especially when you’re dealing with such high volumes of FMCG products.

So, how can you get a packaging review?

Easy! Just get in touch with us and we’ll get your packaging review underway.