The pandemic forever shifted consumer behavior toward digital-ordering channels and off-premises dining. A 2022 report from The NPD Group found that both online ordering and delivery had increased over 100 percent since April 2020.
The explosion of off-premises dining has renewed an emphasis on packaging, which plays a key role in facilitating a great guest experience for the off-premises diner. Think about it: when a diner is eating at a restaurant, they can trust it was made in the kitchen and brought straight out to their table. When ordering takeout, or delivery, diners may wonder where it’s been, and who touched their food.
“Restaurants can make and serve great food from the kitchen to a table,” says Carrie Cline, senior brand manager at Inline Plastics Corp. “But delivering the same quality and freshness as a takeout meal requires overcoming two significant hurdles: ensuring the food arrives at its destination presentable, and that it travels safely and securely.”
With those two hurdles in mind, here’s a look at four different ways the Safe-T-Chef line from Inline Plastics helps restaurant operators deliver a great experience for off-premises diners by building consumer trust. Each subtopic should be thought of as something imperative to consider when selecting packaging for a restaurant.
Safety
Finding takeout packaging that doesn’t leak is table stakes at this point—a leaky to-go order is the best way to ruin a dining experience. When it comes to safety, however, the Safe-T-Chef line goes far beyond just reliably keeping food contained.
The Safe-T-Chef is uniquely designed for hot foods alike, protecting each portion with a patented tear-strip technology that displays whether the packaging has been opened or tampered with after being sealed in a restaurant kitchen. This is the type of innovation that guests want to see with their packaging, Cline says.
“As the industry’s innovator of the first tamper-evident, tamper-resistant products, Inline offers over a hundred SKUs in the PET Safe-T-Fresh line,” Cline says. “That means the right size and shape is always available with the security of our patented tamper-evident technology.” This technology is now available in Safe-T-Chef, the first tamper-evident, tamper-resistant, all-clear polypropylene product line.
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Clarity
Diners eat with their eyes first—it’s a truism that applies to takeout packaging. That’s why both the Safe-T-Fresh and Safe-T-Chef lines are made up of clear containers that come in various shapes and sizes. The containers showcase the meal inside, enticing diners rather than keeping the contents a surprise.
“Inline uses the highest clarity PET and polypropylene materials to make sure contents take center stage,” Cline says. “Whether it is with uniquely designed Safe-T-Fresh Rectangles, Squares, or Rounds, or hot foods in Safe-T-Chef, Inline Plastics offers a multitude of packaging options that offer greatest clarity in the market. It’s also notable that Safe-T-Chef is the only all-clear, tamper-evident, tamper-resistant polypropylene product family for hot foods available today.”
Sustainability
There’s another reason that Inline Plastics uses all-clear material, which is that it makes it easier to sort in the material recovery facilities for recycling. That also means they are more likely to be recycled, which is something that’s gaining momentum with consumers. Others have taken notice, too—groups are targeting the elimination of carbon black packaging by 2025.
“Consumers want convenience, but shy away from unnecessary waste,” Cline says. “This includes both food waste and packaging waste. Since 2017, we have seen single-serve demand steadily increase and continue to become a larger part of the market share year over year. Individual servings eliminate food waste, because consumers are looking to buy the right-sized, perfectly portioned amount of food they need.”
For more on building consumer trust with your packaging, visit the Inline Plastics website.
