With healthy eating on the rise in America, more and more consumers are looking for individual servings of their favorite packaged goods. They don’t have the time to measure out a serving of your product; they want to buy separately-packaged products that are labeled with definitive nutritional facts. As a CPG professional, this can be a tricky trend to deal with. With consumers buying and eating one serving at a time, it can make it harder to sell as much of your product and generate the profits you’re used to. Luckily, we have a few ideas that can help you take full advantage of this trend.
1. Take a New Approach to Packaging
One of the simplest solutions to this trend is to change the way you package your products. Let’s say you are selling a low-calorie cookie that serves as a sweet snack for calorie-counters. A whole bag contains ten servings and each serving is 100 calories. A large bag of your product is normally priced at $5.00 but only costs $3.00 to make. You make a $2.00 profit on each bag sold. To meet the demand for pre-portioned products, you could break your product down into smaller bags containing 1 serving each. Pricing these at $1 a piece, you would have to sell 3 of these bags to generate more profit than selling one of your large bags.
Another approach would be to sell ten of these smaller bags together. Packaging would cost more than on the original bag of cookies, but with the added convenience of being pre-portioned as 100-calorie snacks, you could sell the same amount of product at a higher price.
2. Provide a New, Better Flavor
As consumers begin buying smaller portions and indulging in more on-the-go eating, the same old product might not be adequate anymore. Sure, they used to buy your three-pound bag of frozen green beans, but that was when they were cooking more at home and had access to all of their favorite spices and sauces. Now, they want to purchase a single serving of your green beans, and because they are eating less, they want to savor every bite.
Consider this fact when developing single-serve products, and invest in the creation of new and better flavors. Above, we suggested repackaging your product to match the portion demands of your customers, but that won’t always be enough. Instead of giving buyers the same unflavored green beans re-wrapped in a smaller package — give them garlic lemon, bacon parmesan, and sea salt with black pepper. Your product might be the veggie portion they choose to use at dinner, so give them something delicious.
3. Sell a New Experience
With a new product comes a new experience. Even if you are just repackaging your product as a single-serving portion, you need to capitalize on its release and sell your customers on a new idea. Your old product might have been focused on fun and family, but what story do you want your new product to tell? What story will your customers fall in love with?
Maybe you want to sell your customers on a new, healthier lifestyle. Maybe you want to sell them on the experience of a quiet, peaceful, delicious meal in the middle of a busy day. Or maybe you want to sell them on a filling snack that gives them the energy to keep going. Whatever the experience is, make sure you take advantage of your “new” product and sell your customers on something.
Add Flavor to Your Entrees, Sides, and Appetizers with Butterball Farms.
Unfortunately, we can’t help you with every tip on this list, but when it comes to adding new and delicious flavors to your consumer packaged goods, we can be of service. Here at Butterball® Farms, we have helped hundreds of companies develop custom butter flavors to improve the taste of their products. We can work with you to create a flavor profile that matches your brand and will impress your customers. Once we’ve completed a satisfactory profile, our food scientists will get to work on developing a proprietary butter that you can pop into your consumer packaged goods and immediately improve the flavor. Just click here to let us know if you are interested.