The pet food industry is a cutthroat business. The face of a highly varied pet food aisle is changing due to changing market trends and consumer attitudes. Pet food packaging can help or hinder a customer’s buying choice at a store where small-scale, regional, and international brands all share the same shelf. 

Because packaging is usually the last step in a customer’s purchasing process, it should not only be practical but also appealing and inventive. So, what are the best ways to set oneself apart? Here are some popular pet food packaging trends that are being implemented by successful firms.

1. Sustainability

When it pertains to pet care, sustainability remains to be a factor, with 75%+ of customers expressing they would be more favourable toward a company that made its packaging more environmentally friendly. Customers are increasingly concerned with ensuring that the items they purchase are created in a behavioural and sustainable manner. This implies more reusable and compostable materials will be used in pet food packaging.

Producers face a dilemma since sustainability frequently clashes with other packaging trends. Not all ecologically friendly packaging materials will provide pet food makers with the quality, durability, and food safety requirements they require. Biodegradable plastic is one of the most effective sustainable options.

Biodegradable plastic meets the conservation criteria of producers and the environmental standards of consumers by providing the same, if not better, barrier qualities than old version paper and assorted plastic pet food bags. Established brands provide clear disposal instructions and motivate their terminal users to engage in recycling processes in addition to enhancing the recyclability of their packages.

2. Packaging of the Highest Quality

Pet owners desire their animals to consume as nutritious as they do like the characterisation of pets continues. A whopping  40%+ of animal lovers now purchase luxury pet food for their cat or dog, according to studies. More and more businesses are creating luxury pet food lines, which necessitates high-quality packaging to conserve and safeguard the goods’ contents.

In the pet food packaging sector, flexible packaging is one of the most popular formats. It has good barrier qualities, is temperature resistant, and has a long shelf life, all while being cost-effective. To keep their nutrition and health values, high-quality pet food components need good barrier qualities. 

By inhibiting the transfer of scent, humidity, and oxygen, flexible packaging sheets extend the shelf life of pet food. Sachets with reseal technology also aid in maintaining the freshness of premium pet food.

Customers can tell they’re acquiring a premium product by the eye-catching visuals, high-quality printing techniques, and unique material finishes. Popular surface improvement options including paper feel varnish, soft finish matt, high shine sheen, and spot register finishes provide customers with both ocular and kinesthetic encounters, giving brands more ways to stand out in the retail environment.

That is why smart businesses invest in canned pet food packing machine. These machines are designed to offer high-end opulence products that attract customers from afar on the shelves.

They also take great care of their pieces of machinery by investing in quality power-surge protectors that help them regulate and protect them from excessive power inflows that may ruin their machines and render them useless.

Investing in a 3D printer is also an incredible idea as it helps you to visualize how your product packaging will be and appear to the customers while on the shelves.

3. Convenience

When it comes to pet food packaging, examine irreproachability, product freshness, and convenience of use. Animal lovers are driving the desire for flexibility in the pet food sector currently,  more than ever. As a result, many commercial pet food brands are embracing snack-industry-standard designs and features like stand-up pouches, retractable zippers, and tear grooves.

Reseal technologies not only maintains pet food fresh, but it also appeals to customers searching for attributes that make mealtime more convenient. When they can’t retighten the packaging after opening it, half of the pet lovers who buy premium pet food are dissatisfied. If the bag is destroyed while being opened, or if pet owners strain to seal it in the midst of the feedings, the product’s freshness is jeopardized. Brands must choose trustworthy and practical characteristics like easy open and reseal when producing packaging for their pet packaged food.

Flexibility does not only apply to the consumers, even if it is a major consideration when making a purchase. Brands must require packaging that not only preserves its usefulness and consumer appeal in a tough supply chain network but also facilitates effective manufacture all across the packing and shipping operations in order to assure streamlined manufacture and delivery of their product.

4. Accountability

This may seem simple but it is a hard and high road to take for most companies. In most cases, sales and profits may be preferred to quality and customer satisfaction. However, it is not all bad since many values the satisfaction of their customers and the quality of their pet foods.

Nonetheless, this is something that you need to pay keen attention to for customer retention.

The Bottom Line

The pet food packaging business requires you to be fully committed and understand what the market demands. There is nothing wrong with wanting to increase your sales and profits, just ensure that you are meeting the demands of the market first. All the best!