Investigating Food Packaging Elements from a Consumer's Perspective

Sustainable Design and Evaluation of Children's Food Packaging from the Perspective of Buyers' Preferences

Consumer behavior is one of the key factors influencing product sales, especially in food packaging design, where green, organic, sustainable, and human-centered designs are more effective in promoting food sales. This paper aims to develop a sustainability evaluation method for children's food packaging. The study first explores the theoretical foundations of sustainability, establishing a systematic set of quantitative indicators and evaluation criteria. Based on this framework, the research gathers consumption behavior, rating data from 250 parents of various ages, professions, and income backgrounds. Using the CRITIC model, the study performs dimensionless processing and detailed quantitative evaluation of the indicators' comparability, contradictions, and information content to allocate weights for the sustainability evaluation metrics. Furthermore, the MABAC model is applied to construct a weighted decision matrix and boundary approximation area, ranking the sustainability of 20 representative children's food packaging design schemes (S1-S20). The results show that Scheme S1, after calculation using the CRITIC-MABAC model, has a total distance of 0.214 from the boundary approximation area, exhibiting the smallest deviation from the ideal solution across multiple evaluation criteria and achieving the best overall performance. Building on the optimal Scheme S1, this study comprehensively considers key elements such as eco-friendliness, safety, functionality, and educational value in the optimization of a sustainable design for children's fruit puree packaging. The research validates the practicality and effectiveness of the quantitative model through the sustainable design and evaluation of children's food packaging from a consumer behavior perspective, promoting sustainability design and optimization in the children's food packaging sector.

Sustainable and Bio-Based Food Packaging: A Review on Past and Current Design Innovations

Food loss and waste occur for many reasons, from crop processing to household leftovers. Even though some waste generation is unavoidable, a considerable amount is due to supply chain inefficiencies and damage during transport and handling. Packaging design and materials innovations represent real opportunities to reduce food waste within the supply chain. Besides, changes in people's lifestyles have increased the demand for high-quality, fresh, minimally processed, and ready-to-eat food products with extended shelf-life, that need to meet strict and constantly renewed food safety regulations. In this regard, accurate monitoring of food quality and spoilage is necessary to diminish both health hazards and food waste. Thus, this work provides an overview of the most recent advances in the investigation and development of food packaging materials and design with the aim to improve food chain sustainability. Enhanced barrier and surface properties as well as active materials for food conservation are reviewed. Likewise, the function, importance, current availability, and future trends of intelligent and smart packaging systems are presented, especially considering biobased sensor development by 3D printing technology. In addition, driving factors affecting fully biobased packaging design and materials development and production are discussed, considering byproducts and waste minimization and revalorization, recyclability, biodegradability, and other possible ends-of-life and their impact on product/package system sustainability.

The Use of Hemispherical Directional Reflectance to Evaluate the Interaction of Food Products with Radiation in the Solar Spectrum

Food product packaging should block light to protect nutrients, color and active ingredients in functional food from degradation. Currently, packages are not optimized in terms of the solar radiation impact on the products they contain. The aim of this study was to develop a method of quantifying the interaction of food products with solar radiation, which would enable the optimization and selection of packaging that would protect the product from the spectral range specifically absorbed by it. In order to determine the reflectance of chocolate, the total reflectance ratio was measured. For this purpose, a SOC 410 Solar DHR reflectometer from Surface Optics Corporation, San Diego, CA, USA was used. Directional reflectance was measured for seven discrete spectral ranges from 335 to 2500 nm, which correspond to the spectrum of solar radiation. The value of total reflectance for chocolate differed significantly in the studied spectral ranges. The highest reflectance ratio, averaged for all the tested chocolate, was recorded for the spectral range 700–1100 nm and the lowest for the 335–380 nm range. The total reflectance was significantly correlated with the cocoa content and the brightness of the chocolate. The proposed method of hemispheric directional reflectance enables the measurement of the total reflectance of food products. It can be used as a measure of exposure to radiation. Thus, it is possible to design a package that will protect the product from the spectral range that is most harmful for it.

Evaluating the Use of QR Codes on Food Products

Today, consumers consider food packaging to be as equally important as a product brand. In addition, the increase in smartphone usage by consumers has led marketers to design new forms of packaging. Among the latest marketing trends, smart packaging with the use of QR Codes is emerging as one of the most promising technologies to enhance the information provided to consumers and influence their buying behavior. This study evaluates the use of a QR Code on bottled milk and more specifically on milk produced by one of the most well-known “boutique” Greek dairy producers. It consists of two phases. In the first one, data was gathered from 537 consumers of the product to capture and analyze their (i) buying behavior, (ii) perception of the product’s package, and (iii) knowledge about the product. In the second phase, a Quick Response (QR) Code was placed on the bottle’s label. Consumers who scanned it were linked to a web page containing information on the product. A total of 308 from the 537 initial respondents scanned the code, accessed the site, and answered the second questionnaire. Similar to the first stage, (i) the consumers’ buying behavior, (ii) their perception of the product’s package, and (iii) their knowledge about the product were examined, following their visit to the above-mentioned website through the QR Code. The objective was to evaluate the use of web applications using enriched text information. The results show that a QR Code on the packaging of food products, which directs consumers to entertaining and enriched content, results in an increased level of usage intention. Moreover, they proved that comprehension and self-confidence are higher with the adoption of the QR Code. In addition, the use of QR Codes enables businesses to provide timely and accurate information and positively influence consumers′ buying behavior.

Holistic Approach to a Successful Market Implementation of Active and Intelligent Food Packaging

Market implementation of active and intelligent packaging (AIP) technologies specifically for fiber-based food packaging can be hindered by various factors. This paper highlights those from a social, economic, environmental, and legislative point of view, and elaborates upon the following aspects mainly related to interactions among food packaging value chain stakeholders: (i) market drivers that affect developments, (ii) the gap between science and industry, (iii) the gap between legislation and practice, (iv) cooperation between the producing stakeholders within the value chain, and (v) the gap between the industry and consumers. We perceive these as the most influential aspects in successful market implementation at a socioeconomic level. The findings are supported by results from quantitative studies analyzing consumer buying expectations about active and intelligent packaging (value perception of packaging functions, intentions to purchase AIP, and willingness to pay more) executed in 16 European countries. Finally, in this paper, we discuss approaches that could direct future activities in the field towards industrial implementation.

Bio-Based Packaging Materials Containing Substances Derived from Coffee and Tea Plants

The aim of the research was to obtain intelligent and eco-friendly packaging materials by incorporating innovative additives of plant origin. For this purpose, natural substances, including green tea extract (polyphenon 60) and caffeic acid, were added to two types of biodegradable thermoplastics (Ingeo™ Biopolymer PLA 4043D and Bioplast GS 2189). The main techniques used to assess the impact of phytocompounds on materials’ thermal properties were differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry (TGA), which confirmed the improved resistance to thermo-oxidation. Moreover, in order to assess the activity of applied antioxidants, the samples were aged using a UV aging chamber and a weathering device, then retested in terms of dynamic mechanical properties (DMA), colour changing, Vicat softening temperature, and chemical structure, as studied using FT-IR spectra analysis. The results revealed that different types of aging did not cause significant differences in thermo-mechanical properties and chemical structure of the samples with natural antioxidants but induced colour changing. The obtained results indicate that polylactide (PLA) and Bioplast GS 2189, the plasticizer free thermoplastic biomaterial containing polylactide and starch (referred to as sPLA in the present article), both with added caffeic acid and green tea extract, can be applied as smart and eco-friendly packaging materials. The composites reveal better thermo-oxidative stability with reference to pure materials and are able to change colour as a result of the oxidation process, especially after UV exposure, providing information about the degree of material degradation.