Insights: Articles & Resources by Oliver Inc.
How Functional Beverage Packaging Sets Your Brand Apart
Functional beverage packaging at a glance:
- Ultimate Portability for On-the-Go Lifestyles: Beverage cartons and holders are perfect for busy commuters, fitness enthusiasts, and anyone needing a quick refreshment. They’re designed with convenience in mind.
- Enhanced Consumer Experiences: Functional packaging transcends simple containment by providing multi-sensory brand experiences. Unique shapes, vibrant colors, and tactile finishes create memorable interactions.
- Unmatched Product Protection: Engineered for durability, beverage cartons ensure your product's freshness and quality. Features such as insulation layers and tamper-evident seals safeguard against environmental factors, guaranteeing an optimal drinking experience without the hassle of damaged containers.
- Eco-Friendly & Sustainable Choices: With increasing consumer demand for sustainability, beverage cartons made from renewable, biodegradable materials such as paperboard, hemp, and cotton are becoming the norm. These eco-conscious options not only reduce environmental impacts, but attract a growing base of green consumers.
- Versatility in Design & Durability: Beverage cartons can be customized to fit various sizes and shapes, accommodating different product lines while maintaining right-size packaging principles. This versatility enables your brand to merge high-quality aesthetics with robust durability, ensuring both visual appeal and practical functionality.
Advantages of Functional Beverage Cartons
In today's competitive beverage market, smart packaging can be a game-changer for brands, helping you stand out on crowded retail shelves.
Let's explore five key benefits of functional packaging solutions such as beverage cartons and holders.
People Love Their Portability
Beverage cartons and holders are designed with portability in mind, making them ideal for on-the-go consumption. Whether it's a commuter sipping their morning coffee or a fitness enthusiast hydrating post-workout, these packaging options offer convenience and ease of use.
For example, beverage company Juan Pistolas deploys this functional design principle masterfully with its premium tequila double shots packaging.
Create More Resonant Consumer Experiences
Functional packaging goes beyond mere containment; it creates a multi-sensory brand experience.
Beverage cartons and holders can be tailored to your brand's identity, incorporating unique shapes, vibrant colors, and tactile finishes. This mesmeric experience strengthens brand recognition and fosters a deeper emotional connection with consumers.
It leaves an impression.
For example, beverage company Fabrizia balances durability, visual impact, and brand representation into its functional packaging design that doubles as a carrier.
Better Product Protection Means Happier Consumers
Beverage cartons and holders are engineered to safeguard your product's integrity from the production line to the consumer's hands.
Their sturdy construction and innovative design features, such as insulation layers or tamper-evident seals (among other anti-counterfeiting features), protect against external factors including light, air, and temperature fluctuations, preserving your beverage's taste and aroma.
It means consumers don’t have to worry about ruptured cans rolling around in their cars.
Embrace More Eco-friendly Packaging Options
As consumers become increasingly eco-conscious, functional packaging offers sustainable solutions appealing to them.
Many beverage cartons are made from renewable materials such as sustainably sourced paperboard, which is biodegradable and recyclable. Gone are the days of plastic beverage rings and excessive use of other petroleum-based packaging. In addition to paperboard, other sustainable alternatives such as hemp, cotton, or other biodegradable substrates are available.
Where Durability & Fine Aesthetics Meet
Cartons and holders can be tailored to accommodate various sizes, shapes, and volumes—ensuring a seamless fit for your product line (while embracing right-size packaging principles). This versatility facilitates efficient inventory management and cost-effective production runs.
Plus, expanded packaging material options enable you to combine high-quality visual elements with enhanced durability, without compromising either.
Functional Beverage Packaging Material Options
Whether for alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, your materials need to balance durability and sustainability with high visual appeal. Below are some of the most common substrates used for functional beverage packaging:
- A high-quality paperboard with a smooth surface, solid bleached sulfate (SBS) board is ideal for high-resolution printing. Its strength and durability provide excellent protection against abrasions and knicks.
- Made from recycled fibers, coated recycled board (CRB) is a top choice for sustainability-first brands, providing a smooth surface for printing and additional strength.
- Consisting of multiple layers of chemical and mechanical pulp, folding box board (FBB) balances stiffness and printability.
- Specifically designed for liquid products, liquid packaging board features high moisture resistance. It’s often coated with polyethylene or aluminum for added barrier properties.
- When you require unrivaled protection from environmental factors, polyethylene coated board gives your functional beverage packaging added moisture and abrasion resistance.
Trends in Functional Beverage Packaging
Innovative food and beverage brands stay ahead of the curve, always looking for new trends in packaging.
Growth in Functional Beverages
The functional beverages market size is expected to increase by $77.3 billion at a compound annual growth rate of 10.05% between 2024 and 2028, according to global market research and advisory firm Technavio.
The pursuit of health benefits including enhanced focus, improved energy levels, and better digestion drives this expansion of functional beverages. It’s also boosted by their rising popularity among millennials.
That being said, you may want to reevaluate how appealing your functional beverage packaging is to millennials.
Sustainable Packaging Is in Demand
More and more consumers are prioritizing sustainability as ecological crises worsen. Your food and beverage packaging should reflect the increased demand for more eco-friendly packaging.
Fortunately, an overwhelming majority of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable packaging design. According to a 2023 study by global consulting firm McKinsey:
- Roughly 50 percent are willing to pay 1 to 3 percent more
- 25 percent are willing to pay 4 to 7 percent more
- About 12 percent are willing to pay 7 to 10 percent more
By accounting for this surge in environmental concern, your beverage cartons and holders are going to attract a burgeoning number of green consumers.
Innovation in Design
Your food and beverage packaging can no longer get by with merely protecting your product. Your brand must create more immersive experiences.
Those can come in the forms of connected packaging, the strategic use of QR codes, hashtags, URLs, and barcodes that encourage consumers to continue their interactions with your brand online. You can bridge the gap to the digital with entertaining games, further product instructions, or social media campaigns.
Get creative.
Maybe your QR code takes consumers to a website where they learn how you make your beverage cartons and holders more sustainable.
You may also want to investigate other advanced printing techniques, such as personalization through variable data printing.
Integrating sustainability and innovative packaging design will signal your brand’s forward-thinking and high quality—and differentiate your products from competitors on retail shelves.
Collaborating With Oliver on Food & Beverage Packaging
Cartons, clusters, and boxes play crucial roles across the beverage, supplement, FMCG, and healthcare industries. You need high-quality cartons specifically designed to captivate your customers.
Oliver’s advanced printing capabilities generate attention-grabbing graphics and visual aesthetics on robust kraft carton boards.
With a focus on the beverage market, we deliver expert printing, die-cutting, creasing, and gluing cartons in a myriad of sizes, shapes, and configurations. Our functional beverage cartons not only ensure product safety, but enhance brand visibility—providing a comprehensive packaging solution combining functionality with aesthetic appeal.
When working with a domestic partner such as Oliver, with multiple facilities across the United States, you can expect:
- Premium packaging design. High-quality cartons crafted to captivate customers.
- Enhanced retail shelf presence. Our cartons are designed to capture attention and stand out on the shelf, making your product more noticeable to customers.
- Standard sizes covering various cans and bottles. We offer a wide range of sizes to accommodate different types of cans and bottles, ensuring a perfect fit for your product.
- Improved consumer convenience. Our cartons are easy to carry and store, providing a convenient solution for consumers.
- Increased sales compared with single cans. Packaging your beverages in our cartons can lead to increased sales compared to selling individual cans, as customers often prefer to buy in bulk.