One of the biggest areas of concern seemed to be around closures and dispensing; closures that don’t close and dispensers that don’t dispense accurately. Of course, the people I spoke to represented well established and well recognised manufacturers, those who generally speaking ensure that everything they develop and produce is truly fit for purpose.
Their concern was the influx of ‘me too’ copies, often from the Far East, where the quality simply wasn’t good enough.
Let’s take an example. Water enhancers have rapidly gained ground in North America and seem about to explode onto the scene in Europe. The category leader was Kraft’s Mio, which has been so successful it has already extended the brand with functional variants.
The Coca-Cola Company entered the category this time last year with Dasani Drops and the idea has taken off in private label too. So, it’s clear that the concept has really caught consumers’ imaginations.
But what if your first experience was that the product had leaked in your pocket or bag, or if instead of dosing efficiently and accurately into your bottle of water, it instead squirted wildly into your eye, or onto your friend’s shirt – not good the category’s reputation.
It’s clear that if a category that relies on original packaging is to grow, the packaging has to be truly fit for purpose. Failure is not an option.
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