Using the right material is the first step to product packaging design success.
Food package containers come in a variety of materials such as card boards, corrugated boxes, box board, paperboard cartons, plastics, paper bags, and Styrofoams are most common. And, each of these materials have strengths and weaknesses. For example: Styrofoam is great at insulating hot and cold foods so that they maintain their temperature. But, it’s non-biodegradable and bad for our environment. Plastic is sturdy and prevents leakage when designed properly. However, many plastics are non-biodegradable. And, some plastics can leach toxic materials into your food. Cardboard is biodegradable and easy to print on. But, wet foods can turn it to mush. And, it’s not very good at insulating to maintain temperature. There is also a growing variety of biodegradable and sustainable food packaging containers to choose from—more about those later.
So, what are your business’s food delivery needs? Think about the distance your food needs to travel, how long it will remain in its packaging, temperature requirements, as well as what type of foods you will need to transport.