Shelf Space: The Occupational Affliction

My guess is you do the same thing I do when cruising the aisles of your local supermarket. You look at packages: study how a label was made, examine the diecut on a creative folding carton, look for new ways a flexible package can be resealed. Sometimes you see new stuff. Maybe a concept is being test-marketed, or one that has tested well is reaching your area. And if it’s particularly interesting, you wonder who printed and converted it.

I spotted these three on a recent grocery run. The concepts are interesting, and the printing offers new opportunities for printers and converters. It may be that brands you already work with are considering some of these, and if so, it’s a good time to make sure your company is on their radar as a potential producer.

First is the paper jug of laundry detergent. I’d have missed this, except we use the same brand in our dishwasher, but in a folding carton. The container is lined to prevent leakage and the label is a normal SA flexo-printed and rotary diecut offering that stands out well on the paper container. Little information on this container is available, so it may be in test-market mode.

One shelf up was the offering from Method. There are two containers, the narrow conical ones being new product, and the standup pouches holding refills. This approach to refills is expanding, shifting a variety of fluids to standup pouches, enabling more products to fit on limited retail shelf space, while reducing shipping and other costs throughout the supply chain. It can also bode well for converters who are able to produce both flexible packaging and standup pouches. After all, consumers aren’t going to buy less detergent—just fewer hard plastic containers.

And finally there’s the stack of wine glasses. OK, the wine in the glasses is not likely to be praised in Wine Spectator. But the conformable shrink wrap may be something of interest to converters, especially as makers of the more casual and inexpensive wines roll out single-serving tailgate- and picnic-ready offerings. Can you print that wrap?

So if you have the same occupational affliction as I, what are you seeing out there? Let me know, and we can talk about it.