How flexible packaging can help brands differentiate in a crowded pet food market
Competition in the global pet food market has never been fiercer. Pet ownership continues to grow and pet owners are expecting more from their products—nutrition, convenience, and sustainability. Brands are feeling the pressure to differentiate in a very crowded pet food aisle. If packaging isn’t an integral part of your holistic strategy, you’re missing out. Packaging is often the first interaction that a consumer has with a brand. Flexible packaging differentiates itself on the shelf with the intrinsic benefits of flexible formats, creative design freedom and functional benefits.
This blog will discuss the ways flexible packaging supports pet food brands to create distinction while connecting with customers and strengthening brand identity.
1. Shelf impact: Design freedom that captures attention
Visit your local supermarket or pet shop and look at the shelves. They are filled with colourful bags, pouches and sachets. Choice is often overwhelming for the consumer. Flexible packaging gives brands the freedom to be different – with powerful high-definition printing, different pouch shapes, and matte, gloss or metallic finishes.
Flexible films are also different to more rigid packaging types in that they can be printed on all surfaces, creating a 360-degree canvas for marketers to wrap their products and to tell their brand’s story, grabbing attention and passing on important values in a concise way – be it a premium look and feel, natural ingredients or sustainability.
2. Convenience that builds loyalty
Consumers today are looking for more convenience out of the products they purchase. Kibble bags and resealable pouches, single serve sachets for treats and easy-tear film for wet food are all major factors for ease of use.
Flexible packaging can help to deliver all these functions and so much more to make storage, portioning and transport easier for the pet parent. Satisfied customers tend to remain loyal to your brand because they prefer to repeat positive experiences.
Take, for example, the resealable stand-up pouch. This can help to minimise waste, keep food fresher for longer and offers value-adds that are just not available with rigid tins or cartons.
3. Product protection and quality assurance
Differentiation is not just design-led or tactile – it can be performance based as well. Pet food products are all sensitive to oxygen, moisture and odour contamination. Packaging which isn’t effective can result in loss of freshness, nutrients or flavours.
High-barrier films for flexible packaging offer protection against these dangers. Not only will the food keep for a long time, but it will also maintain its quality. After all, for top brands, this is important assurance that if you buy the product and pay more, you will get the same quality every time.
Brands can make this a part of the pack messaging with call outs to these protective benefits on pack – “keeps food fresher for longer,” “aroma-lock technology” etc.
4. Sustainability as a Differentiator
Pet owners are becoming more environmentally aware and demand the brands they buy to be more mindful. Multi-layered packaging has come under fire for being hard to recycle, however, new films and flexible packaging technology is transforming this image.
There are recyclable films, compostable laminates, and plastic tax-exempt paper-based options to choose from. If you can package your product in something that will work, it can be compostable, biodegradable or recyclable. Packaging your product in something environmentally friendly is great way to reach out to your eco-friendly customer.
5. Branding beyond the shelf: Unboxing and online sales
Online shopping influences the pet food market as well as owners buying in bulk or subscribing. Flexible packaging is perfect for this market as it is lightweight, cuts shipping costs and is resilient through transportation.
Subscription boxes and direct-to-consumer deliveries are also defined by packaging. Spotless, premium-looking flexible packs help extend the brand experience long after it leaves the shelf.
6. Cost efficiency without compromising quality
Differentiation doesn’t have to come with a price tag. Flexible packaging often uses less raw materials than its rigid counterparts, weighs less for distribution and can be produced at high volume with economies of scale. The savings can be passed on to spend more on design, printing and features such as resealability, all without driving up the retail price to make brands’ packaging stand out.
7. Future trends: Smart and interactive packaging
Looking ahead, brands can further differentiate through smart packaging technologies. QR codes printed on flexible films can link consumers directly to feeding guides, product origins, or sustainability initiatives. Augmented reality experiences, loyalty programmes, or personalised content can also be integrated into packaging design.
Packaging innovation is more than following trends: here’s how pet food and treats manufacturers can drive an emotional connection with pet owners. It is a crowded and competitive category, so packaging is much more than simply a way to get a product from point A to point B. Flexible packaging can deliver the design freedom, convenience, product protection and sustainability credentials that brands need to stand out from the crowd.
Packaging should make pet parents’ lives easier, keep their food fresher for longer, and make them feel like they are doing the right thing by their pets and the planet. For brands, effective packaging is that competitive advantage that could mean the difference between customers passing their product by on the shelf or sticking them on the family shopping list.
That’s why, as competition continues to heat up, it’s the brands that make packaging a key pillar of their brand and customer experience strategy that are going to come out on top.
Partner with Terinex Flexibles
Terinex Flexibles designs and manufactures state-of-the-art flexible packaging for brands in the pet food industry to help them differentiate on shelf with high quality, sustainable packaging that’s right for their products. Barrier films, recyclable and compostable laminates and more, our flexible packaging solutions will keep your product safe, functional and shelf ready.
Contact Terinex Flexibles now to learn how flexible packaging can help your brand stand out.
