In the fresh produce aisle, brands have only a matter of seconds to capture a shopper’s attention and secure a spot in the grocery cart. While internal marketing teams often spend months agonizing over font choices, color schemes and certification badges, new insights from Idaho Falls, Idaho-based category management firm Category Partners reveal a simpler truth: Shoppers ultimately just want to see the food.
According to the company’s studies, successful packaging strategies begin with consumer behavior research long before the design phase ever begins.
“Shoppers make decisions in seconds, based on what’s directly in front of them,” says Cara Ammon, senior vice president of research for Category Partners. “The packaging graphics and product visibility are often the first point of contact for consumers, so creating a compelling reason to purchase is a critical piece of the process.”
The Power of Product Visibility
“Clear, concise, powerful messaging, with graphics that highlight consumer value, provides your best opportunity to win at retail,” Ammon says.
Unlike center-store consumer packaged goods (CPG), where shoppers are accustomed to opaque boxes and bags, fresh produce operates on visual trust. Shoppers want to physically inspect the quality of their fruits and vegetables to ensure they aren’t bringing home damaged or expiring items.
When asked if there is a magical geometric ratio for package transparency, Julie DeWolf, senior vice president of business development for Category Partners, says the rule of thumb is simple.
“I think the answer [to ratio] is as much as possible, like within the confines of reality,” DeWolf says.
Balancing Information on Limited Real Estate
The desire for total product visibility creates a unique design challenge for suppliers. Growers naturally want to highlight nutritional data, heart-health badges, organic certifications and eco-friendly messaging. However, cluttering the plastic can backfire.
Packaging real estate is further constrained by legal requirements, branding needs and — for products crossing North American borders — bilingual formatting.
“You’ve got to identify what are those few things that you need to put on the label that are, I mean, legal, of course, and for the consumer ... for that branding, what’s most important?” Ammon says.
Furthermore, the packaging itself must increasingly do all the heavy lifting at the shelf due to modern retail environments.
“With all the clean store policies these days, the packaging is your only opportunity, right?” Ammon adds.
Designing for the Retail Environment
Beyond catching the consumer’s eye, produce packaging must also be optimized for how it physically sits on store shelves. A package that looks beautiful in a boardroom mockup might fail if it doesn’t align with a retailer’s existing racking infrastructure.
According to Ammon, consideration must be given to “merchandisability” — whether a package sits flat or stands upright, and how easily retail staff can stock it neatly.
“If you go look in center store, you see a lot of suppliers these days are creating two ways to merchandise ... like a landscape way and a [portrait] way ... so they can choose how much space they want to take up. And, we don’t really have that luxury in produce, but I think it’s an interesting and important topic to understand,” Ammon says.
The Cost of Skipping Consumer Feedback
To bypass these hurdles, Category Partners advocates for involving commodity boards and suppliers in consumer research at the very beginning of product development. Testing consumer habits, target demographics and package-type preferences via surveys or virtual shelf studies saves massive downstream printing costs and prevents market failures.
While sectors like CPG have utilized deep consumer testing for decades, the produce industry is finally catching up.
“It’s not unusual for companies to spend months perfecting a package without asking consumers how they feel about it,” DeWolf says. “Internal teams believe in their product, and the enthusiasm and passion are evident, but shoppers have the final say. Careful packaging research is critical for a successful launch.”
