Healthy Dairy Products – The Dairy Coding & Marking Considerations
The regional manager of food and drink for market analyst Mintel in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa spoke of the major global trends affecting product development in the dairy sector, and one of these was the emphasis on weight management. But what do considerations of the health benefits, or drawbacks, of dairy consumption have on the coding and marking of these products?
The Trends For Healthier Dairy Products
In a report from Eurochoices, the major drivers for healthier foods included the rising obesity epidemic in the UK, a growing understanding of diet and health, and even the health claims made on products themselves.
In Food Manufacture’s interview with Chris Brockman from Mintel, a number of different product development plans were highlighted that will hopefully tackle these general trends affecting the market. Brockman said that a great deal of attention appeared to be being paid to addressing the nutrition of older customers, while also reducing pack size to aid portion control, format sizes and shapes and even making products easier to get into.
For example, the growing markets for lunchbox-friendly cheese snacking products, and daily drinkable yogurts, have both opened up new areas in which there are challenges for coding and marking.
Dairy Coding & Healthier Products
What do dairy packagers need to consider when they find brands bringing in healthier choices such as these?
For example, for smaller portion-control or lunchbox packs, the manufacturer needs to be certain that code integrity and clarity will be maintained even in very small printing areas to ensure that the necessary information can be transferred to consumers effectively.
Should the packaging material change, either to facilitate a smaller format or make it easier for the consumer to get into the pack, packers also need to know that their printer will be able to deliver high-quality codes that stick on almost any substrate.
Digital printers can help packagers in these circumstances to ensure that they deliver consistent and clear codes on products, whatever the substrate or size of the product.