How packaging can elevate user experience

While brand owners need to take regulation like the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) and functional demands into account when opting for the right packaging, user experience is increasingly on the radar as brand owners are looking for ways to elevate their brand experience.

“Sustainability and recyclability are critical but there are many other levers at play when designing food packaging. Our role at Walki is to connect all these aspects and create a solution that is not only sustainable and functional but also clearly adds value in user experience for the consumer,” says Annika Sundell, Executive Vice President, Consumer Packaging and Innovation & Sustainability at Walki.

Fibre-based packaging offers clear advantages as it contributes to circularity through the well-established paper streams, helping brand owners meet PPWR requirements and supporting the decoupling from fossil-based materials. But the right packaging can also come with additional value to brand owners and consumers if it is aligned with today’s consumer trends, expectations and lifestyles.

“We need to ask ourselves how we can support our customers, the brand owners, by enhancing the user experience and how we can do that in a way that elevates the whole brand experience,” says Sundell.

This means considering not just what the packaging is made from, but also how and where it is used. One example is the rising trend of health and wellness where consumers are increasingly looking for products that support healthy lifestyles.

“Packaging can convey this in a subtle but influential way with fibre-based materials that feel natural and sustainable,” says Sundell.

Creating new occasions

Another growing lever is experience, that is how the packaging feels, functions and fits into consumers’ lives. Is it easy to open, can it be resealed?

“These are all elements that contribute to the user’s interaction with the brand. Packaging is a powerful tool to shape perception and behaviour,” says Sundell.

Packaging can also help brand owners create entirely new product occasions. Take the breakfast classic in many Nordic kitchens: porridge. Once a staple on the breakfast table, it is dipping in popularity with younger generations. With clever packaging, this cereal product can be repositioned to fit younger people with on-the-go lifestyles.

“The breakfast porridge can be reintroduced as a cereal bar which is still healthy but quick to enjoy on the go, creating multiple new occasions for the product. Wrapping the bar in fibre-based packaging will also support the health and wellness trend,” says Sundell.

Combining different levers like sustainable thinking and functionality with user-centered design can help unlock business value. At the core lies a deep understanding of the end customer.

“This means that we need to increasingly gain insights in trends and behaviour of the end consumers.