John Burke

President

Foodservice Packaging Institute

We still see a lot of interest in environmentally friendly packaging materials. That’s in keeping with the times—everyone is more environmentally aware these days because of the concern over global warming, greenhouse gases, and carbon foot printing. You find that expressed in packaging because operators have to meet the concerns their customers have.

Beyond that, what impresses me still is that packaging is more than a conveyance item, and we see it in this competition. Packaging helps drive sales. It’s creative, it’s fun, and it becomes part of the business, from the simplest piece imaginable to the greatest in scale. Operators find that foodservice packaging can help grow their businesses.

Finally, I can’t remember another time when the judging was so close in deciding the Foodservice Package of the Year. It was a razor-thin margin, and that speaks well for packaging—that people who know something about it have a hard time picking the best of the best.

Victoria Bartelt

Art Director

QSR Magazine

Less-is-more is still a strong theme, and interestingly, some brands employ that to create an upscale feeling, while others use it to portray an image of environmental sensitivity.

Also, there’s a trend of high-end professional photography of food and people on the packaging. We’ve seen photography before, of course, but not with the same degree of sophistication we saw this year.

With food, it’s bright and engaging and really helps to promote the quality of what’s inside the container, whether it be ice cream, salads, sandwiches, or something else. The people photography ties into another trend, which is storytelling—brands trying to make a real one-on-one connection with the consumer.

We also saw packaging being used as a cross-promotional platform, which is smart. You might see a coupon for another product or promotion of complementary menu items. In general, you can tell that a lot of thought is going into packaging.

Kenneth Hinett

Former Vice President, Corporate Environmental Affairs

Pactiv Corporation

One thing that leaps out at me is there’s no real innovation or novelty. Instead, there are small changes in design and customization taking place. My impression is that people are focused on costs and green and not necessarily on innovation.

When you look at step-changes in packaging innovation, they should be caused by a breakthrough in materials, a breakthrough in food preparation or presentation, or a significant change in consumer needs or desires. This looks like a pretty mature market, not demanding much beyond low cost and more environmentally friendly products.

Innovation needs to be a joint effort between the packaging manufacturers and the operators. Each measures their results in different ways, so the two of them working together makes for the strongest alignment to create what the consumer needs or wants. In some of the packages entered this year, where there’s been a joint effort between the operator and the manufacturer, the results have been pretty unique either for the operator as a brand or for a particular new market segment they’re going after.