Packaging for snack foods
Packaging is very important when food is in the equation, as it keeps the food clean and fresh. A very good example of food packaging is tin food the tin keeps the food eatable for 2-3 years. The design of the packaging is an important aspect to selling snack food. The shape of the packaging is important from the customer’s point of view
Packaging annotation
Front of packing
Back of packing
Chicken curry
Packaging annotation
Section five
Questionnaire
1. Your gender?
Male ( )
Female ( )
2. What age group are you?
6-15 ( )
16-24 ( )
25-35 ( )
36-45 ( )
Over 45 ( )
3. What is your brand of crisp?
Walkers ( )
Doritos ( )
Pringles ( )
Hula hoops ( )
Other ( ) specify…………………..
4. What is your favourite flavour of crisp?
Cheese and onion ( )
Salt and vinegar ( )
Prawn cocktail ( )
BBQ ( )
Ready salted ( )
Other ( ) specify……………………..
5. Do you eat low fat crisps?
Yes ( )
No ( )
6. Where do you usually buy your crisps from?
Supermarket ( )
News agent ( )
Vending machine (
7. How much would you be prepared to pay for a packet of crisps?
10p-20p( )
20p-30p ( )
30p-40p ( )
Over 40p ( )
8. How often do you eat crisps?
Never ( )
Occasionally ( )
Regularly ( )
Everyday ( )
9. Which size packet do you prefer?
20g-30g ( )
30g-40g ( )
40g-50g ( )
More than 50g ( )
10. What advertisement persuades you most to buy the crisps?
TV. ( )
Billboards ( )
Internet ( )
Side of buses ( )
Other ( ) specify………………………….
11. What promotions do you think are most effective?
Sale prices ( )
A chance to win prizes ( )
A free gift ( )
Other ( ) specify…………………………..
Sampling
There are four main types of sampling all of them very effective in their own way.
Random Sampling
First random sampling this type of sampling gives everyone an equal chance of being interviewed. But can cause a problem for people who are busy at work or have a busy life style, because these types of people are more likely to refuse to be interviewed this limits who is being interviewed. Another disadvantage t o random sampling is a slow and expensive.
Quota Sampling
Quota sampling is a very effective way of interviewing the right people in the target market. Quota sampling is when you know how much of the percent of the population on average likes or does something for example how many men and women eat crisps. Another advantage of quota sampling as it is relatively cheap.
Stratified sampling
The sampling frame is divided into non-overlapping groups or bands, e.g. geographical areas, age-groups, genders. A sample is taken from each stratum, and when this sample is a simple random sample it is referred to as stratified sampling.
Cluster sampling the units sampled are chosen in clusters, close to each other. Examples are households in the same street, or successive items off a production line. The population is divided into clusters, and some of these are then chosen at random. Within each cluster units are then chosen by simple random sampling or some other method. Ideally the clusters chosen should be dissimilar so that the sample is as representative of the population as possible.
Results and analysis of questionnaire
Number of respondants:20
The questionnaire was handed out to 20 random interviewees, 20 was completed making it a 100% response rate.
The respondents were asked:
Q1. Your gender?
50% said they were male
50% said they were female
I asked 10 males and 10 females as this gives an equal and fair sample.
The respondents were asked:
Q2. What age group are you?
65% said they were 6 to 15
10% said they were 16 to 24
15% said they were 25 to 35
5% said they were 36 to 45
5% said they were over 45
This question was asked to find out what age group liked crisps the most the results show people aged 6 to 15 like crisp the most.
The respondents were asked:
Q3. What is your favourite brand of crisp?
50% said their favourite brand of crisp was walkers
30% said their favourite brand of crisp was Doritos
10% said their favourite brand of crisp was Pringles
5% said their favourite brand of crisp was hula hoops
5% said their favourite brand of crisp was McCoy’s
This question was asked to find out what peoples favourite brand of crisp was the results show that walkers is the most popular brand.
The respondents were asked:
Q4. What is your favourite flavour of crisp?
40% said cheese and onion was their favourite flavour of crisp
25% said salt and vinegar was their favourite flavour of crisp
25% said prawn cocktail was their favourite flavour of crisp
5% said BBQ was their favourite flavour of crisp
5% said ready salted was their favourite flavour of crisp
This question was to find out what flavour of crisp was most popular with the public the results show that cheese and onion was the most popular flavour.
The respondents were asked:
Q5. Do you eat low fat crisps?
80% said they did not eat low fat crisps
20% said they did eat low fat crisps
This question was asked to find out if anyone ate low fat crisp the results show that only 20% eat low fat crisps.
The respondents were asked:
Q6. Where do you usually buy your crisps from?
50% said they bought their crisps from a supermarket
45% said they bought their crisps from a news agent
5% said they bought their crisps from a vending machine
This question was asked to see where people buy there crisps fro the results show that supermarkets are the most popular place to buy crisps from although news agents are also very popular.
The respondents were asked:
How much would you be prepared to pay for a packet of crisps?
60% said that they would be prepared to pay 30p-40p
25% said that they would be prepared to pay over 40p
10% said that they would be prepared to pay 10p-20p
5% said that they would be prepared to pay 20p-30p
This question was asked to see how much the public would be prepared to pay for a packet of crisp the result show that the public would be prepared to is 30p-40p
The respondents were asked:
How often do you eat crisps?
50% said that they eat crisps occasionally
35% said that they eat crisps regularly
10% said that they eat crisps everyday
5% said that they never eat crisps
This question was asked to find out how often the public eat crisps the results show the most of the public eat crisps occasionally.
The respondents were asked:
Which size packet do you prefer?
35% said that they preferred 30g-40g
30% said that they preferred more than 50g
20% said that they preferred 20g-30g
15% said that they preferred 40g-50g
This question was asked to find out what size packet the public preferred the results show that the public prefer the pack size to be 30g-40g.
The respondents were asked:
What advertisement persuades you most to buy the crisps?
75% said that T.V. persuades them the most
10% said that billboards persuade them the most
5% said that the internet persuades them the most
5% said that the side of buses persuades them the most
5% said that magazines persuade them the most
This question was asked to find out what type of advertisement persuaded the public the most to buy the product the result show the most effective advertisement is T.V.
The respondents were asked:
What promotions do you think are most effective?
45% said that the most effective promotion is sale prices
35% said that the most effective promotion is a free gift
10% said the most effective promotion is a chance to win prizes
10% said the most effective promotion is buy one get on e free
This question was asked to see what promotion would be most effective to use the results show that sale prices is the most effective promotion.
Section six
Consumer panel
Aims of the consumer panel:
The aim of the consumer panel is to find out what people like and dislike in a certain product. This information then can be used to help design the product to create the perfect combination of what the consumer wants.
Method:
The consumer panel was conducted on Thursday 14th September 2006. It was carried out by 4 students, all of whom are 15 years of age and live in London. Crisps were placed on the table; students judged each brand based on their appearance (size, shape and colour), odour, taste and texture which was written down on a consumer panel. The 4 products that were tested are: skips, somefield thai sweet chilli chicken, McCoy’s BBQ beef, Quavers, Wostits
The results of the consumer panel:
Skips: overall rating 10/20
The crisps overall were disliked: the appearance was described as having a yellowy colour dull; its odour was prawn cocktail which was one of the up sides of the product; the taste was described as sweet (too sweet); finally the texture was described as soft.
Somefield thai sweet chilli chicken: overall rating 14/20
The appearance of this was extremely disliked – it was described as round and plain; most consumers liked the odour it was described as , chicken and pepper (however it was slightly disliked because it had a strong smell); some consumers liked the taste – they described it as long lasting and rich; the texture was disliked due to it being rough.
McCoy’s: overall rating 17/20
These were; liked hugely this brand’s appearance was described as crinkly; a majority of the consumers liked the odour only because it was a strong smell of spicy chicken; the taste was also liked for the same reasons as the odour it was like spicy chicken; finally, this brand’s texture was also complimented it was described as perfectly crinkled (the groves in the crisp).
Quavers: overall rating 14/20
This was liked generally by the consumers: its appearance was not so great – consumers described it as too curled up and; its odour, however, was liked by all consumers – it was described as cheesy (in a good way) by every consumer that tried it; its taste was also liked for the same reasons as odour it was cheesy,; finally its texture was liked because it was soft (but not too soft) and also crispy.
Wostits: 14/20
This crisps was liked in general but also had some bad points
As a result of this consumer panel, I now have the knowledge about what consumers like and dislike about crisps. The crisps that price’s snacks plc will develop should not have a mouldy or stuffed surface; this is because consumers noted these as their negative points for most of the tested brands. The most negative point noted for the odour of all crisps is the plainness and faintness; price’s snacks plc should develop crisps with a sweet, strong and spicy odour as this was what consumers liked the most from all 5 tested brands.
Section seven
Asda
Somefield
V.B store
From the information on the previous tables, I’ve concluded the following information:
- Price’s snacks should use 50g as the weight for their products as it is the most popular. It is most sold and therefore the most consumed
- The prices that price’s snacks should use for a 50g packet is £0.35p this is because this is the average price used by the competitors (minimum price is £0.27 and maximum is £0.49) however a majority are near to ).35
- Finally, all competitors charged the same price for various other flavours. This is very common for a majority of crisps, and consumers are used to this. Price’s Snacks should follow this rule as to not fall out of the pattern.
Section eight
Census
Since 1801 and every 10 years, every individual who is usually a resident in this country will take part in the census; this even includes British citizens whom are abroad on brief postings with the armed forces and even those sleeping rough. The census is a periodic analysis of the population – it asks the same questions everywhere and covers every individual simultaneously. This makes information easy to compare, and therefore making it easy for central and local government, health authorities and other organisations to target their resources more effectively.
The census is pretty accurate as it is a necessary process. The census covers a wide range of questions, ranging from sex and age to accommodation and relationships (and plenty others). However, this survey is conducted every 10 years. 10 years is a long period of time and changes could quickly occur – for example, a family of two parents and two children could easily increase to a family of one parent and four children in this time period. It is useful for the government in particular, as the census is used by them to plan housing, education and health and transport services for years to come. This is why it is important that every section of the government is representing fully.
From the graph above, I can now see that the population of females is only just slightly above the population of males in general. I can also see that a majority of the population lies between the ages of 16 to 64 (for men) and 16-59 (for women). Finally, the graph also shows the amount of men above 65 and women above 60 is almost as high as the under 16s group.
From the graph above, it appears that the majority of the population lies between the ages of 16-64 for men and 16-59 for women, and the number of females is very close to the number of males (although slightly higher). Price’s snacks would want to hit the majority of the population with their products; therefore their target market would have to be both males and females aged between 16-62 (the average of males and females)
Section nine
Mintel
Mintel is a market research agency that gathers information about businesses in a certain type of the market. This information can then be purchased by anyone interested in buying it, this information comes at a cost of up to a 1000 pounds. This price is relatively cheap compared to if you were to do it yourself, if you did it yourself it would cost over a 1000 pounds. This way of gathering information is very good for small companies who can’t afford to do it them self’s.
Strengths
The impulse factor is very strong, and savoury snacks are available through a wide choice of outlets and from vending machines.
This is very good for price snacks limited because the more outlets there are the more stock price snacks ltd can sell. This also helps the convenience of the customers, as there is a wider choice of places to buy the product from where ever the customer is.
Per capita consumption of crisps, is high
This is good news for price’s snacks as the product will sell reasonable well, as the market for crisps is very good. This is due to the bigger the market the more capital can be made. And also the bigger the market the more market share price snacks will be able to have.
Many households include crisps and other savory snacks in their standard weekly shop, for eating at home and for use in lunchboxes.
This will help price’s snacks sales as we can sell in multi packs at a lowers price which will attract the customers. This shows that the target market for crisps is of all ages due to households containing adults as well as children. This also shows that the market for crisps is very big which gives price snacks more of a chance to gain market share and make profit.
Most children can afford to buy their own savoury snacks. According to the sodexho meals survey 2002, UK school children spend a third of their pocket money on snacks to eat on the way to and from school.
This is good for price snacks because adults don’t have to buy the crisps for their children, whereas if adults bought them for their children they may limit the number of packets the children can have due to health issues. The fact that children spend a third of their pocket money on snacks will only add to the number of sales.
Weaknesses
The market is dominated by a handful of companies.
This is bad for most companies but especially new companies, who are trying to get into the market and gain market share. This will take a lot of price snacks potential buyers especially people who are loyal to one brand. The other problem is they can afford to lower there prices this is bad, for example people are going to buy something that is cheap and their used to, not something that is new and cant compete with the big brand prices.
Most of the industry’s products are perceived as unhealthy, with high salt and fat content, artificial flavourings and colourings, and low nutritional value.
This is a major problem for all snack businesses as it will tend to put people off of snacks. Parents will also not want their children to have any crisp, so price snacks will lose a big percentage of the market. This will be a big blow to revenue and profits.
Continual advertising is essential to maintain brand profiles.
This will be hard for price snacks as it does not have the buying power of brands like walkers, hula hoops, Pringles etc. If price snacks does not advertise it will lose a lot of the market, that is why walkers is at the top of the crisps market, for example the Gary linker adverts that are famous all round Britain.
The strength of some brands makes it difficult for others to have any significant impact on the market. In fact, it is said that over 60% of snack sales are derived from the top ten brands.
This is bad for price snacks as it will be hard to separate the customers from there favourite brand which is likely to be in the top ten brands. 60% of the sales of crisps is a very big percentage and it is unlikely that in the first year of sales that price snacks will be in the top ten brands.
Opportunities
Children’s snacks have traditionally seen stronger growth than the rest of the market, but premium products targeting sharing occasions for adults are redressing the balance.
This is a big opportunity for price snacks as they can target a different type of market which will help gain market share and also be an established name in a certain type of the snack market. This also gives them the chance to be different from all the other snack companies mostly targeting children which may give price snacks a better chance of making a profit.
Dual sitting an increase sales. Crisps etc. can be situated alongside wines, beers and spirits, next to dips, by checkouts, or with sandwiches and other on the go lunch products to encourage impulse purchases.
This is very good for marketing and advertising as this could be a target market for price snacks for example McCoy’s is associated with pubs and bars but is also sold in shops and supermarkets. This is also good for teaming up with other companies in terms of mixing to products for example dip and special crisps to go with them. Overall this will increase the sale of price snacks and is a very good opportunity for price snacks.
Manufacturers are increasingly introducing sweet/savoury mixes, which may have a wider appeal.
Dips and dunks are increasing in popularity, encouraging demand for bread sticks, etc
This is a good opportunity for different types of crisps for example tortilla crisps which people usually have with dips. This is also another part of the market that price snacks could concentrate on.
Threats
Consumers are bombarded with advice on healthy diets and statistics relating to obesity levels. This might finally persuade significant numbers to switch from processed snacks to healthier options, such ad fruit.
This is a big part of the media nowadays and is making children and adults think more about what they eat for example many TV programs concentrate on people’s obesity levels and unhealthy diets. Many experts say that a main part of this unhealthy lifestyle is snack eating.
Multibuy and ‘buy one get one free’ offers may increase volume sales, but they do not help value sales.
This is a threat because doing buy one get one free offers will result in crisps costing less per packet. This will result in less revenue which in turn will result in less profit. So price snacks will hav less capital to invest back into the company which overall will lead to big losses.
Savoury snacks are facing increasing competition from cakes, biscuits, dried fruit snacks and even cereals as bagged snacks.
This will decrease the amount of the snack market savoury snacks will own which will decrease sales for all companies but especially companies outside the top snack companies. So this will effect price snacks in a big way resulting in less profit etc.
The constant stream of new products confuses retailers and consumers like and also clutter shop value sales.
This is a threat to price snacks because price snacks are also bringing out a new product which could make the consumers and retailers confused. A Price snack also has to compete with new products that are being brought either by media or marketing.
Section ten
Most likely competitors:
Websites
The crisp market is presently being run by four major competitors: walkers, Pringles, McCoy’s and Golden Wonder. They’ve all been successful for long period of time, and are all distinctive in many ways: Pringles, for example, have their crisps in a exact shape which no other crisp brand has, and they also have a unique packaging – many crisps are stored in packets, but Pringles store theirs in cylinder tubes; walkers are the ‘creators’ of the 3 most common flavours (salt and vinegar, cheese and onion and ready salted). Since all of these brands are very popular, I will be visiting their websites and conducting research to find out various information about their products; this includes their products’ net weights, packaging types, the pricing that they use and their products’ life cycles and extensions.
From my research, I’ve find out that the average price used by all competitors for their most well-liked products of approximately the same weight is roughly £0.43 (the highest was Pringles with £0.55 being charged for 50g; the smallest of all were Golden Wonder with £0.30 being charged for 50g). From this information I’ve also noticed that the average net weight of all products is 50g. I’ve also found out that the packaging used for each product is all professionally made – their colours and presentation attract the right target market (an example of this is Walkers sensation, which is designed for the ‘posh’). From this, I’ve also found out that in most of the packages the colour and theme relates to its flavour. Another thing I’ve found out is that each competitor advertises competitions (or similar) on its packaging. Finally, to further extend their life cycles, Pringles slightly modified their product to make it last more – they’ve introduced ‘dips’
From my research and observations of competitors’ products, I will now use this information from my competitors and apply it to my product. Price’s snacks should use the average price of £0.35 for their crisp as it is a slight combination of all competitors’. Another average that price’s snacks should use is the net weight, which is 50g. Furthermore, the packaging of the product should have a theme of the flavour contained within it, and price’s snacks could use this as an opportunity to either advertise other products or competitions. Finally, when the life cycle of the product is near its deadline, price’s snacks should follow Pringles’ path and modify the product slightly.
Section eleven
Product design
Shape
The shape I am considering for my product is round I feel that this shape is the most popular with the public. The rounded crisps are popular with the public because the most popular brand of crisps is walkers and there crisps are rounded traditionally. Also the rounded shape crisp is simple and effective as walkers has shown in the past. My results from the questionnaire also show that the two of the three favourite crisps are walker and Pringles which are rounded.
Flavour
The flavour I am going to be using is prawn cocktail. The reason I am going to be using the prawn cocktail flavour is because it was the joint second flavour in the question and also in the consumer panel the prawn cocktail flavoured crisp was liked overall.
Texture
There are two textures I am considering using the first is rough and the second soft this two textures where most popular in the consumer panel that I conducted. I also feel that the main crisps companies mainly use this sort of texture in their crisp.
Appearance
The appearance I am going to be using for the crisps is the crinkle cut design. I am going to be using this design because I feel that this is the most popular design as I found out in the consumer panel. The most favoured crisp in the consumer panel was the McCoy’s this was the crinkle cut design.
Smell
For the smell I am deciding to use a strong smell as this was very popular in the consumer panel. I am going to be using a prawn odour as this is a strong smell and was also the joint second most favoured flavour in the questionnaire
Size
The size of the crisps are going to be average size for example the size of walkers crisp. Not to small because this can make them fiddly and not to big because it will be hard to eat the crisps.
Section twelve
Target market
A target market is very important to selling the product to the primary source of interest. The target market will depend on what type of product is being sold for example milky bar is aimed at small boys on the other hand wrinkle cream is aimed a target audience of mature women usually 40 years and above. Ensuring the right product is advertised for the correct target is important and will ensure that the product is going to be successful.
Market segments are important for selecting the right target market for the product you are selling. Market segments allow you to divide up different peoples needs in to different segments. There are a wide range of ways the market can be segmented, age, gender, socio-economic grouping and geography. All these four
Segments have different categories for example age could have 2-8 year old and then 9-12 etc. Price’s snacks are going to use market segments because it will help them to divide the market to the customer specific needs.
First age I think the best market will be 6-16 year olds as these are the most likely to buy crisps as my questionnaire showed. Next gender I am going be targeting males and females as I feel that the market is equal between the two genders. For the socio-economic group I am going to target everyone as I feel that all the socio economic groups all buy an equal amount of crips. I feel that geography does not matter when selling crisps as anyone anywhere can buy and eat them.
Section thirteen
Pricing
I am going to be talking about pricing methods used by retailers when selling products. The price of a product has to be correct or you will not make a profit on that product. i.e. a game is priced at 50 pounds most people will think this is to much money to pay on the other hand if the game is priced to low then some people will think the game is not up to a decent standard.
Competition based pricing
Firstly competition based pricing this is when you set your price similar to the price of your competitors.
Penetration pricing
Penetration pricing is setting an initial low price at the stage of deployment of the product to attract initial customers. The price is likely to rise later as the product gains a market share.
Psychological pricing
Psychological pricing is when a product is placed and priced at **.99p and the customer believes that they are getting the product at a cheaper price.
Cost plus pricing
Cost plus pricing is the simplest pricing method. The firm calculates the cost of producing the product and adds on a percentage (profit) to that price to give the selling price.
Skimming
Skimming is selling a product at a high price, sacrificing high sales to gain a high profit, therefore ‘skimming’ the market. Usually employed to reimburse the cost of investment of the original research into the product
The pricing method I will use
I will use two of these five pricing methods firstly penetration pricing and psychological pricing. I think firstly that penetration pricing is the most effective to draw the customers in to buying the product. I am hoping this will gain the market share so I can raise the price of the product. I also think this method will compete best with any competition. And psychological pricing will also be used I think this deceives the customer into believing the product is cheaper than it is. The initial price of the product will be £0.29 and when the sales of the product are high enough the price will be increased to £0.39.
Section fourteen
Packaging design
Packaging description
Above is my final packaging design I have based the design on my research and personal experience. First the colour, I chose green as it is the traditional colour for the cheese and onion flavour and is easy on the eye. I used the blue and red stripes as a logo as it contrasts the green colour which makes it stand out and be remembered. As my research showed a promotion was a good way to entice the customer, so I used a free car promotion which I placed in the bottom left hand corner. I then put a picture of the crisps on the right of the packaging to bring out the customers imagination. The gold trimmings at the bottom and top of the crisps are used to make the crisps look more special due to the colour gold being associated royalty and trophies. I put a small description of the product on the back of the packaging and all the required information like the best before date and the nutritional requirements.
Section fifteen
Product life cycle
Introduction
This part of the product life cycle will be mostly promoting and marketing the product or products that are going to be sold. This will involve persuading big companies like tesco, Sainsbury’s etc to take orders and also small companies like newsagents and small supermarkets.
Growth
This part of the product life cycle will involve a certain amount of advertising to keep the products profile up. This stage should have the product in many of the major supermarkets as this will help it grow more.
Maturity
This part of the product life cycle is when the product has reached its full potential. At the end of this section the product will start to decline so I think this would be a good time to start thinking of developing a new product.
Decline
This part of the product life cycle is when a new product should be brought out to support the current product.
