In the beverage market, brand owners are changing the rules when it comes to packaging. “Beverage-makers are pulling out all the packaging stops to create both unique and specific user experiences tied to a particular package structure or material,” says David Luttenberger, global packaging director for Chicago-based Mintel. The market research firm sees established retailers, brand owners and innovative packaging converters extending their reach into new categories, demographics and even geographies by offering a mash-up of ingredients, products or packaging styles that typically don’t mix, he says. Luttenberger offers Truett-Hurst Inc.’s PaperBoy wine bottle, which is made of a recycled cardboard shell with a plastic liner, as an example.
“In this process, … unique and sometimes experimental offerings are bolstered by a pack type familiar to a cohort but not typically familiar in a category, or a package format that breaks the norm within a category, or even a package that offers a functional element not traditionally associated with a use occasion,” he explains.