If you’re a parent looking to stock up on snacks for their kids, you’re probably familiar with food marketed specifically for children such as low calorie fruit snacks, nuts and grazing pouches, crisps that have been baked instead of deep-fried - the list goes on. The packaging usually boasts of nutritional and general health benefits, so they have to be good for your children… right? Wrong. What if we told you that the advertising on these products is nothing more than clever marketing, and that, oftentimes, supposedly ‘child friendly’ food is actually less healthy than its regularly-marketed counterparts?
Dr Megan Rossi, also known online as ‘The Gut Health Doctor’, recently shared a comparison of two packets of crisps on display in a café to Instagram Stories, with shocking results. By looking at the ingredients side by side, Rossi found that the brand traditionally marketed towards children is actually unhealthier and contains more ultra-processed ingredients than the crisps advertised towards a generally older demographic, despite the packaging including nutritional buzzwords like ‘free from artificial colours and flavours’. It is, in actuality, full of ultra-processed additives like maize dextrin and emulsifiers, whilst the alternative product contained just potatoes, sunflower oil, and salt.
With customer awareness growing surrounding dishonest ingredient marketing and ‘hidden’ ultra-processed additives, it’s more important than ever that food and drinks businesses embrace honest, ethical packaging and advertising practices. Consumers crave authenticity and reward transparent brands with hard-earned spending power; businesses that are upfront in their labels and that avoid tricksy, ambiguous marketing language meant to deceive unsuspecting readers will win trust, loyalty, and differentiation from competitors.
What exactly is transparent packaging
It might seem fairly self-explanatory at first, but truly transparent packaging and advertising has more nuance than many brands think. In a climate where entire teams are hired to invent eye-catching marketing spins and more and more businesses try to cut corners and save money by using lower-quality ingredients or including less product (see: shrinkflation), honest packaging cuts through the noise to deliver simple, factual information without frills or embellishments. It involves:
- Products with easy to understand, clearly visible ingredients lists (not trying to hide behind tiny text!)
- Minimising ultra-processed ingredients where possible, and honestly highlighting their inclusion
- Avoiding vague, ‘healthwashed’ buzzwords like ‘free from artificial colours’, ‘natural’, etc.
- Working with an agency that understands packaging design and how to market a product honestly
What is healthwashing?
Healthwashing is a rampant and unethical practice wherein products are marketed using certain, sneaky terminology that uneducated consumers might not realise is actually an empty promise, such as ‘source of fibre’ or ‘reduced fat’. There do exist regulations in the UK that forbid packaging from making outlandish, false, or medical claims - you can’t advertise your breakfast cereal as being able to cure a disease, for example - but accepted health claims can be embellished and exaggerated to make products appear more nutritious than they actually are to the average shopper. ‘Organic’, for instance, is a claim that brands can make if at least 95% of the farm-grown ingredients are organic or if you sell directly to customers in-store; there’s no legal expectation that your product is 100% organic, even if your marketing suggests it is.
Authenticity and honesty are values which underpin the work that our creative team does here at Eat Marketing, and designing attractive, transparent packaging for our clients is a marketing practice we’re proud of. Our work with family-run startup DevOATed, for example, highlights our ability to create honest packaging that looks good, sells well, and showcases their myriad qualities without adding any sneaky, healthwashing buzzwords.
So, what does ‘good’ packaging look like?
Now that we understand what advertising shouldn’t look like, let’s explore some examples of ‘good’ packaging. There’s no hard and fast rule for honest and transparent marketing, but general best practices include:
- Simple, minimal ingredients lists which clearly highlight any additives or ultra-processed extras using language average consumers can understand.
- Clear nutritional information with realistic serving sizes - if your product is only ‘low calorie’ after a few mouthfuls, that’s dishonest advertising!
- Less reliance on marketing ‘spin’ like graphics, catchy copylines, and ‘kid friendly’ mascots unless backed up by real nutritional quality.
- Clear labelling of processing level, or at least flagging of any ultra-processed ingredients.
- Certifications or third-party validations where possible to verify your claims.
A useful exercise that can make transparent packaging methods seem clearer is a comparison between a brand that does it well and a brand that does it… not so well.
Supermarket giants M&S have recently launched their Only… Ingredients range, featuring household staple products with incredibly plain packaging that lists their full ingredients, which must be 6 or less as per M&S’ own messaging, in bold text on the front of the box or wrapper. None of their Only… Ingredients products make any too-good-to-be-true health claims or try to distract with clever catchlines or busy design; they simply communicate, in plain terms, the contents of the box, allowing the consumer to make up their own mind. Compare this to another popular retailer, Kellogg’s, whose cereals are some of the best-selling in the UK - what do you notice about their packaging? Despite containing a massive 16 ingredients, including added flavours and ultra-processed glucose syrup, the packaging clearly markets itself as a child-friendly breakfast cereal using bright colours, a fun animal mascot, and health claims such as ‘source of fibre’ and ‘supporting your family’s health’ to entice parents. In setting these two packaging examples side by side, we can clearly see the blatantly misleading nature of healthwashed advertising, and the real need for transparent packaging amongst food retailers.
Tackling common food packaging challenges
Whilst it’s easy to talk the talk, we know that executing transparent packaging which maintains style and cohesion whilst remaining within budget is a little trickier. However, hacks to help clean up your packaging and marketing strategies don’t need to be overly involved or expensive, including:
- Balancing cost vs ingredient quality and label simplicity by prioritising clean, honest messaging even if the product isn’t 100% squeaky clean. Customers will appreciate the candour, even if it’s just highlighting ultra-processed ingredients.
- Mitigating redesign costs and supply chain issues through smart budgeting and organisation of spending priorities.
- Educating consumers so that they understand how food can be healthwashed, as well as why your new product may taste or look different.
- Keeping a finger on the pulse of relevant regulatory markets at all times to ensure your brand is one of the first to know about any key changes or legislation brought in.
Transparent packaging with Eat Marketing
Clear and honest packaging isn’t just a nice extra - it’s the basis of your reputation and brand perception amongst increasingly savvy shoppers. Now you know all about the do’s and don’t’s of authentic advertisement, choose success with transparent packaging.
Are you thinking - “Switching to transparent packaging sounds great, but I need an agency who can help!” Then look no further than Eat Marketing. We offer a comprehensive and strategic approach tailor-made to suit the needs of your individual brand, including an initial discovery to fully understand your business, an audit of your existing packaging claims and ingredients, consultations with nutrition experts and consumer panels to test public perception, and creative, story-led redesigns and rebrands.
Ready to clean up your act for good? Get in touch with Eat Marketing today.
