If you’ve been following
packaging technologies, then you’re probably already aware of just how far
they’ve come. But if you haven’t, then you’ll be surprised that it’s no longer
just about the fastest and most advanced taping machines and case erectors. These days, we’ve come as far as interactive
packaging – or packaging that is ‘alive’, for lack of a better term.
Perhaps the race to
attract the consumer faster through innovative packaging has become so
competitive that the packaging industry is now breaking boundaries in terms of
packaging design. And this has led them to the creation of interactive
packaging options.
Pioneers of Interactive Packaging
Food
One packaging technology
innovator has recently come up with a special coating that, when added to the
packaging of a product, can deliver a certain scent upon handling. This opens
up many possibilities for food packaging. Imagine how the supermarket would
smell like once this new packaging breakthrough makes it to the mainstream
market.
Liquor
Then there’s liquor brand
Coors, who began using thermochromic inks that told consumers when the beer is
still cold. Since coolness is key to the beer drinking experience, this
packaging technology definitely gave Coors a unique advantage in the market.
Other liquor brands such
as Smirnoff and Bailey’s have also joined the bandwagon and have begun using
electroluminescent labels complete with a graphic equalizer display.
And in yet another display
of packaging prowess, vodka brand Medea has come out with limited-edition
bottles equipped with a programmable scrolling LED. This allowed consumers to
display personal characters on the bottles as long as they use 255 characters
or less.
Fruits
In the UK, one store has
come up with a smart packaging technology that tells consumers whether avocados
and other fruits are already ripe. In fact, the package changes color gradually
from pink to green to show the level of ripeness of the fruits. Since the skin
of avocados is quite thick, it is quite difficult to tell whether they are
ready for consumption. This smart new packaging technology, however, provides
the perfect solution to this problem.
In another milestone in
fruit packaging technology, a special packaging for bananas have been designed
to help slow down the ripening process of bananas. Bananas are some of the
fastest fruits to ripen, and when stores are unable to sell all their stocks in
time, this leads to a lot of food waste and trash, not to mention a lot of
wasted money. But this new technology can help minimize the amount of over-ripe
bananas that get thrown away rather wastefully.
QR Codes and More
Before all these new
technologies came about, packaging experts mostly relied on QR or ‘Quick
Response’ codes to interact with packaging. These are still in use, although
their effectiveness and usefulness in packaging has not been maximized.
Manufacturers have mostly
used QR codes as a marketing medium that leads consumers to their contact
information or to their websites. But there are still so many more useful ways
to make use of these codes that have not been unearthed yet.
Clearly, the packaging
technology still has a long way to go. As technology continues to advance, it
becomes more and more important for entrepreneurs like you to start investing
in automated packaging systems and start thinking of ways to make your
packaging more in tune with the times.
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