No-Mess Snacking thanks to the Right Packaging

A croissant, along with a coffee and a daily paper – this is how to start the day in style. However, reality rarely looks like this – especially during the working week. Instead, the order of the day is usually: a race to work or the nursery etc. with a filled roll or sweet pastry on the go. Only 25% of products purchased at the bakery are eaten at home. Here it is not just the bakery products industry itself that is reacting to this trend with a wide range of products that cater to the rise on-the-go snacks, it is also the related packaging industry.

Food-to-go needs to be convenient and as mess free as possible for shirts, blouses and fingers. A suitable solution for accident-free enjoyment is offered by coated, fat-resistant packaging materials. Pastry products like cookies are best packed in tray inserts with a fat-resistant inner coating. In self-service sections, like with all pre-packed goods, bakery goods packaging must also observe statutory regulations concerning sell-by-dates and content declarations. Furthermore, the packaging must be designed in such a way that it cannot be opened and closed again easily. Special closures and seals indicate whether packaging has already been opened.

Heated bakery products present further challenges. They, too, have to be wrapped in a specific way so as to ensure the snack stays warm for a long time. In its snack range German company Weber Verpackungen offers various packaging for hot, cold and fatty bakery products of any size.

The ‘Snack Bag Thermo Burger’ is said to keep its contents warm for half an hour. Its size is specially designed for burgers and filled rolls. The handling of these snack bags from this family firm scores points on two counts. For the bakery all they do is roll the product in the bag. Customers just open the bag along the tear-off perforation and get to enjoy their snack mess-free. Also practical for bakery display cases are their so-called Fifty Fifty snack bags that combine paper and film. Half of the snack – down to the tear-off perforation – is visible thanks to the use of a transparent film; this makes it easy to see the contents are fresh. Maximum visibility plays a particularly key role in the self-service section of stores. With a re-sealable closure bags or pouches can easily be closed back again.

However, bakery product packaging not only needs be safe for hot and fatty foods, it is also a perfect brand ambassador. This is demonstrated by the example of coffee-to-go cups. On average, consumers use the coffee cup for 15 minutes. During this time targeted marketing messages can be aimed not only at the customers themselves but also at those surrounding them – be this on the underground, the bus or at work. And this works just as well for bakery goods packaging.