Victoria Ho of Sherpa CPG understands the specialty food landscape and knows how important a role packaging holds for a brand's success. During tomorrow's SFA Maker Prep webinar, "The Packaging Playbook: How to Design for Impact, Scale Your Story & Sell More Stuff," taking place at 1 pm ET, she will dive into strategic principles, market data, real-life case studies, and industry best practices to empower makers with an actionable, innovative toolbox that can be customized to a brand’s growth stage in anticipation of the next.
SFA News Daily recently spoke with Ho.
Are there brands with exceptional packaging that you recommend budding specialty food businesses look towards when designing product packaging?
I have a running shortlist of brands who have made an impression on me, but let’s first define “exceptional” so we can share a point of reference for a dangerously subjective term. For me, exception packaging delivers product information efficiently and effectively, claims its positioning with confidence, and engages the consumer through multiple modes of storytelling, whether emotive or educational. They anticipate their consumer's questions, understand their needs, and reward their attention. You'll have to go on a little spin around the store with me, as the merchandising landscape varies between categories (so too should your packaging strategy!).
I adore how the comically oversized slabs of Tony's Chocolonely dwarf other specialty chocolate bars and employ nostalgia and fun to platform a heartfelt mission. UNREAL's vertical sans serif wordmark is sporty, clean, and striking against pastel backdrops and perfectly rendered candy pieces--it's an effective reinforcement of clean ingredients. Rishi Tea's boxed Wellness Sachets are transportive, telling a story of premium craftsmanship through haptics, artwork, and naming language. Sunwink's RTD set is a color-blocking masterclass and takes full advantage of the category to hint at product experience with very few words.
For logo typography, you can't beat the modern whimsy of Whisps—it sings permissible indulgence with an air of class. It's cheese but make it snackable!
Siete Foods, Nona Lim Foods, SOMOS, and Fila Manila weave the story of their heritage throughout their packaging with textile-inspired artwork, color systems, and symbology that celebrate culture with authentic joy. These brands are breaking out of the archaic ethnic aisle with products that resonate across cultural boundaries, and language that is approachable, welcoming, and inclusive. The takeaway on exceptional packaging is that it evokes something about the specific brand that wears it.
Are there any ways that packaging can benefit a product that specialty food businesses should consider?
For specialty food brands, your packaging is your pitch--not only for your product experience but also for your purpose and values as a brand. It can feel like an overwhelming undertaking to share all these attributes while also expressing your brand persona, but the beauty of thoughtful packaging design is that it helps to communicate and corroborate your story, even before the words begin. The source and finish of your materials can highlight anything from your focus on sustainability to your positioning as a premium, natural product. Your format can win over consumers by showing that you resonate with one of their pain points and that your brand is focused on providing a solution for it--think economical, resealable pouches for multi-serving snacks, handy squeeze bottles for condiments or finishing sauces, or individually wrapped units to promote mindful indulgence. When your packaging can show that you're listening to your customer, they are more likely to listen in return.
Take stock of shapes, sizes, color palettes, and image types in your category, and question whether commonalities exist because of best practices or because no one has shaken them up in a while. Make sure your packaging protects and presents your product at its best, so that consumers see, feel, and taste your story come to life at its best.
What is the biggest mistake you see brands make when designing packaging?
Approaching the design process without an intentional, customized communication strategy. Packaging isn't just a blank canvas for artwork that "pops." It is a landscape for storytelling that demands thoughtful architecture, effective signage, and a healthy respect for FDA compliance—don't save a compliance check as a final performative audit. Consumers need your guidance to lead their journey from discovery to decision-making. Step into the shoes of a consumer who has never heard from you and won't get the advantage of hearing your pitch in person or sampling your product before purchase. Consider how you can deliver the clearest, most concise answers using a balance of words and images; then sprinkle in delightful details. Don't overestimate the patience a consumer has for your pitch. You want to create a roadmap of engagement and information, not a scavenger hunt.
Consider every element that you've added to explain or emphasize something (an arrow, an icon, italics, a "handwritten" font, a drop shadow, subjective vocabulary, images, photos, etc.) Are they driving the goal (add to cart!) or actually distracting from it? Remove the distractions, the stunt doubles, and the redundancies. And take the time to develop your own unique brand expression.
How do you feel packaging can set a business up for success?
The sophistication of your packaging strategy is a key indicator to buyers that you're ready to meet their customers and fulfill purchase orders without issue or delay. By sophisticated, I don't necessarily mean your brand persona; rather, does your packaging deliver a polished on-shelf presentation as a CPG brand as opposed to a homemade product or prototype? Is your packaging properly sealed, does it protect your product well from the retail environment, and does it bear a legible GS1 barcode and all regulated FDA compliance elements? On communication, does your packaging tell me clearly what it is, what it's made of, how to use it, and how long I have to enjoy it at its peak?
These foundational aspects of packaging help win the trust of industry decision-makers like buyers and distributors that you have a solid operational mindset that can scale at the pace of your success. They are also aspects that can be accomplished without a huge budget for the splashy printed film, custom-molded bottles, or multiple unit sizes. Take advantage of your ability to be nimble as a start-up or emerging brand and use early packaging systems to validate communication strategies like naming, flavor descriptions, logo placement, or serving size. Learn from feedback whether you are properly setting expectations for your product before you commit to a more expensive packaging system.
What would you like attendees to leave the webinar ready to implement into their business?
I hope every brand owner or creative leader that invests their valuable time with me will leave with confidence in what their current packaging is executing well, and clarity around how to amplify or restructure other aspects that are falling short on impact.
On a tactical point, every brand will have a checklist for basic FDA label compliance that should be baked into the dieline from the outset—I cannot stress that enough. It will save time, money and so many headaches to be diligent about compliance as an integral part of CPG design.
Most importantly, I'd love for all attendees to be encouraged by the infinite ways that packaging can serve up a clear, compelling brand story, and to enjoy the process of finding the perfect balance between verbal and visual expression. Packaging for all successful brands is an organic evolution, but at each stage of your growth, you can use packaging to connect with the consumers who will give you the insight, the resources, and the motivation to make future improvements.
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