inStorebuyer - May 2011 - 67

Innovations In Packaging
A Q&A with Ashlee Robinson, Product Manager-Bakery at Robbie, on the company’s new Fresh & Tasty Bakery Pouches
Q. Why would consumers care so much about a resealable pouch when they can get their cookies in a rigid clamshell type container?
Robbie learned in consumer focus group interviews that cookies do not stay very fresh in the clamshell container over more than a few days. Many consumers immediately repackage their cookies into another container once they bring them home to keep them fresh. This was the number one complaint consumers mentioned about in-store bakery cookies. Recently Robbie executed over 200 consumer intercept interviews with a major southern grocery chain to help validate this finding. The results confirmed the focus group insight. 29% of all consumers stated they put their in-store bakery cookies in another container to keep them fresh. 46% of consumers keep them in the rigid container, but said that some go stale before they can be eaten. Only 25% of consumers say they eat all the cookies before they go stale. Focus group findings also strongly indicated that the grocery store that could solve the freshness problem would get a larger share of the in-store bakery cookie business. This is because the improved package takes away the fear that they would need to throw out stale cookies and waste their grocer dollars.

Q: What in-store signage can merchandisers use to reinforce the message that these new pouches help baked goods taste fresher, longer? And, what about the important convenience factor of the resealable pouch?
We have found in our early store testing, that signage placed on bakery tables or on floor stands helped consumers quickly capture the benefits of the new flexible packaging. Bullet point features were stated for easy recognition – keeps product fresher longer, resealable zipper, easy carry handle and eco-friendly pouch. We have also found that consumers quickly recognize on their own the freshness benefits of the reasealable pouch over the rigid container. Since product freshness is critical to the success of bakery departments, our new package needed to ensure freshness from the time the product was baked until the customer had consumed all the cookies. In addition, the pouch would need to offer other consumer value-added benefits. With these requirements set, the Fresh N Tasty Bakery Pouch was developed with a proprietary film structure and resealable zipper to keep baked goods tasting fresher longer. The flexible pouch’s built-in handle makes it easy for the consumer to pick up and carry the package; and a large window was included for clear view of product. Consumers have been very excited about the easy “transportability” of the pouch, making it great for picnics, sporting events, and parties. The flexible pouch clearly demonstrates advantages over rigid clamshells with its ability to maintain product freshness and offering consumers other value added components.

Q: Studies show less than 20% of all supermarket shoppers visit the in-store bakery regularly. Can these new pouches help merchandisers use perimeter displays to attract new customers to the bakery?
Fresh N Tasty Pouches can be placed on hanging shelves, in single or tiered basket displays or placed on small end cap tables due to their small profile and ability to be handled easily. Unlike rigid clamshells, the pouch is made out of flexible materials lending to almost any display environment, without any worries about containers popping open. The bold, eye-grabbing graphic design of the pouch stands out and will help to increase traffic and purchases. Custom graphic designs with dynamic color imagery help build brand equity and increases consumer appeal. 36% of consumers say they purchase bakery items on impulse at least half the time. Placing fresh baked items at different locations predominantly shopped by consumers can help drive this number up. Giving consumers a better packaging solution that keeps their baked goods fresher longer will help turn impulse shoppers into regular in-store bakery customers.

Q: Sustainability is a growing concern to today’s supermarket shopper. Do Robbie’s new Fresh N Tasty Pouches fit into the solution, and how do you recommend merchandisers communicate the sustainability message to shoppers?
Robbie is a strong advocate of providing sustainable packaging solutions for retailers and processors. Fresh N Tasty Bakery Pouch joins this list by providing environmental benefits and lowering total lifecycle costs as compared to rigid clamshells. Using lifecycle analysis comparing the flexible pouch against the rigid clamshell based on a quantity of 780,000 (truckload), the pouch had dramatic findings. Manufacturing of the pouch uses 75% less fossil fuels and reduces packaging weight by 69%. Significant costs savings are also gained resulting from fewer truck loads and pallets required to ship the same amount of packages. The slim profile of the pouch uses 76% less truck fuel and 50% less corrugated.

Q: Beyond cookies, can these pouches be used for other bakery products?
The pouches were designed to hold multiple baked goods to help retailers eliminate SKU’s. Pouches can hold a wide variety of items - cookies, donut holes, scones, croissants, rolls, muffins, artisan breads, biscotti, cinnamon rolls and more. Our stock designs come in two sizes. The smaller pouch holds approximately 10-13 cookies and the larger holds 12-18 cookies. Full customization is available in multiple sizes and colors.

Visit Robbie at IDDBA booth 2035

inStorebuyer - May 2011

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