instore - May 2016 - 76


equipment & packaging

Bad Packaging: The quickest way to
lose your most loyal customers
Difficult packaging is one of the quickest ways to lose a longterm or
newfound customer, especially one of boomer age or older, according
to extensive studies done by Metaphase on aging, ergonomics and
food purchasing habits. CEO Bryce Rutter says it's a matter of taking
into consideration how our bodies change after midlife as well as the
personal politics involved in asking for help, and warns that there's
nothing worse than upsetting an older consumer: "because the older
you get," he says, "the more time you have to badmouth a product."

really refrain from asking for help," he says. And not without reason:
we're told all our lives what may happen once we cease being able to
take care of ourselves, he says - assisted living. People start to worry
that the more they ask for help from their children and others with
daily things - starting with opening that bag of chips, for instance - the
more likely it is for that dreaded thought to pop into someone's mind as
a good idea. If mom and dad are struggling with this, what else may be
too difficult for them in the near future?

"The minute these users have to ask for help," he says, "a little alarm bell
goes off in their head, and they say, 'Alright, maybe I am getting old. I
can't even get into the chip bag' - which incidentally has got to be one
of the world's worst packaging nightmares. By the time you get into it
you've got nothing left but Frito dust, right? You've got to wrestle with
the thing, and most of them don't even put the stupid notch that you
can't see on there. Wouldn't you like to be in the room when someone
came up with that design? 'You know, I've got a great idea - no one's ever
going to be able to get into this thing, but I've got to tell you, there could
be a nuclear holocaust and our chips would still be fresh.'"

It's this line of thinking that has spurred a concerning recurrence in
older consumer behavior: an abandonment of brand loyalty - but not
because they don't like the food.

The frustration behind this sentiment is very real, and it's not just
personal pride in relation to aging that is damaged by this small, daily
inconvenience. Difficulties like these strike a much deeper alarm in
many consumers, Rutter says.
"Once people start to get over 50, and especially over 60, they start to

Grab
-andgo

OPEN-AIR
REFRIGERATION
UNIT
76 * MAY 2016 * instore

"Talk about trends!" Rutter says, "One of the trends that will drive the
brand people crazy is that as they age, (consumers) will start to drop
brands that they've been loyal to for quite some time because they
can't get into the packaging - not because they don't like the food. And
as a result, they start to buy brands of food and beverage products
based on how easy it's going to be for them to get into the darn package,
so they don't have to ask for help. That's a pretty remarkable thing if
you're Kraft or Procter & Gamble. You can have someone who's been
loyal to your brand for 25 years, and bang - they're gone. Now it's a
packaging decision; it's not a food decision."
And worse yet, he says, now they're mad at the brand itself, which
brings us back to why boomers and their forebears are the last

According to Jeff Lenard, vice-president of strategic
industry initiatives for the National Association of
Convenience Stores, the popularity of single-serve
packaging is affecting an array of areas in the food
industry, and not just the obvious ones. It's the
demand for this grab-and-go food that's responsible
for the biggest game-changer in terms of instore
equipment: the open-air, oval refrigeration unit now
ubiquitous at the front of any grocery or convenience
store. The salads, sandwiches, fresh fruit and other
grab-and-go staples that are individually packaged
there have become the biggest draw for many
consumers once they walk through the doors.
"You're not going to see one of those in Best Buy or
Home Depot," Lenard says. "You can sell candy bars
there, but hummus will be a little tougher. It gets that
grab-and-go customer with the healthy lifestyle and
moves that product."
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of instore - May 2016
