Giving a feel to packaging

Food packaging specialist KM Packaging has launched a new film offering the luxury confectionery and high-end boxed goods markets a way to add sensory interaction to visual appeal. David Pittman reports

As the retail environment has become swamped with new products and more SKUs, so consumers have been faced with a barrage of carton and flexible packaging.

As a result, high-end brands are increasingly looking for a subtler way to make their products stand out on the shelf. This has included the use of matte finishes, new shapes and structures, and finishes that take advantage of consumers’ senses.

Dr Catherine Barnes, director of the Faraday Consultancy at the University of Leeds, detailed the concept of quantified touch in the very first issue of Packprint World, published in September 2011, and discussed why the “feel of the pack” could improve consumer experiences.

She outlined how almost all packaging found in stores is handled and touched by consumers, but stated that the “feel” of the pack is rarely designed to improve the consumer’s experience.

She wrote further about the work of Faraday and the University of Leeds to develop a process that delivered the technical specification of a surface that can convey brand values to the consumer.

Leo Luxe Packaging offers a range of packaging products that are designed to create sensory feedback, using touch and feel accents combined with pack structures to “invoke emotions” and create a connection between consumers and brands and their packaging.

Barnes said: ‘Touching products and packaging has a significant influence on our perception of them. When our fingers touch the surface of a pack, the many touch receptors in our fingertips trigger and send messages to our brain.

‘These messages combine with our previous knowledge, and as a result we experience a series of emotions. Clearly, brand owners are keen to ensure that the emotions delivered by their products match the brand, but until now, there has not been a systematic way to achieve this.

‘When we touch a surface, we experience a composite of three different attributes: the substrate material, any added lacquers or textures, and the shape or form of the pack. Because substrate materials and pack shapes are frequently predetermined in the many packaging development processes, the main opportunity to engage the consumer is to add a texture or lacquer effect to the pack surface. The real challenge then, is to determine whether the chosen lacquer represents the brand accurately, and delivers the right experience.’

It is with this in mind that food packaging specialist KM Packaging has launched KM Velvet Feel, a new premium packaging film with a unique feel and texture targeted at the luxury confectionery and high-end boxed goods markets around the world.

Charles Smithson, KM Packaging managing director, says: ‘Shiny gloss sleeves are giving way to matte finishes that convey an element of discreet quality, and the next stage is enhancing the visual impact with an unbeatable feel of luxury that tempts consumers to touch and pick up a particular product.’

A coated polypropylene, KM Packaging claims KM Velvet Feel reflects the current trend towards matte finishes and other subtly unusual features that emphasise the quality of the product inside and achieve shelf standout in a crowded sector, and can help brands to achieve shelf differentiation in a whole new style.

Graham Holding, commercial director at KM Packaging, says the move towards subtler ways to attract consumers creates new expectations on suppliers to the market.

‘It’s very important for our customers to be able to differentiate themselves on the shelf and in the eyes of the consumer. For those manufacturing films, it’s very important to look for new ways to help them do this, and add value to their packaging.

‘We are active in developing new products and systems for our customers, and KM Velvet Feel is about changing the look of their packaging, but more importantly the feel.’

KM Velvet Feel is available as a reverse printed, heat-sealable film laminate for use on form-fill-seal or flow-wrap equipment. KM Packaging is a supplier of printed flexible packaging, so will use the new product to give its own products extra appeal in the increasingly competitive global flexible packaging market.

Printing is carried out using either the flexo or gravure processes, with KM Velvet Feel sales samples produced using an Uteco Onyx eight-color CI press.

‘It’s important for suppliers to be different with their offering to brands in order to help them differentiate so we want to supply finished flexible packaging products specified with KM Velvet Feel.

‘That’s not to say that we’re closing the door on partnering with other suppliers in this area but if the business case is strong, and it’s the right scenario, we will look at possible partnerships in terms of producing flexible packaging with KM Velvet Feel.’

KM Velvet Feel can also be laminated to board for suppliers of luxury boxed products such as premium confectionery, and even perfumes and cosmetics. KM Packaging has no plans to move into the carton arena, and instead will work with partners to make the material available to the global carton market.

Holding draws attention to the coating used in the creation of KM Velvet Feel as being the real differentiator between it and other packaging films.

KM Packaging worked with an industry partner to develop the coating, as this is a complex manufacturing process that the company wanted to ensure was properly carried out, and Holding says: ‘In appearance, it’s not too dissimilar from matt OPP; it’s when you pick it up you notice the difference.’

‘This product opens doors for potential customers of KM Packaging, and allows our existing client base to look at ways of making their products stand out from other food manufacturers and CPGs.’

KM Packaging has already seen interest from North America, Europe and South East Asia in KM Velvet Feel, and hopes to start supplying the market soon.

This will be handled by its own processes and network, with the material manufactured in the UK and to be exported directly to customers by KM Packaging.

KM Packaging operates globally, and has regional warehousing capabilities spread across the world, as well as manufacturing partners in Europe. ‘We handle all aspects of import and export, and have stock holdings available in many regions to allow us to service customers and any fluctuations in demand they may experience.

‘This allows them to deal with us globally, but feel like they are receiving local service and support.’

Holding adds: ‘Packaging is a very important spend, but often other issues are prioritized over it. As such, our customers require a trusted and reliable partner, as well as reliable products.

‘Our customer base is global, and they are supplying supermarkets so need to be able to supply packaged goods reliably and consistently, and not cause issues in the supply chain.’

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