Private View: Packaging power personified

Amul Madagascar Noir De Cacao dark chocolate

Madagascar noir de cacao is Amul's single origin dark chocolate bar with 55% cocoa. It comes in a paperboard carton packaging with premium looks.

Sukhdev Singh Saini
Packaging lead, General Mills AMEA
The package uses a premium virgin paperboard carton with excellent graphics and embossed outline of the animal. The brand name and taste profile chart on the back panel is effective. The print is further enhanced by the combination of matte and gloss varnish. The glued end flaps are efficient in providing tamper evidence. There is an easy-tear perforation line provided for opening on one end. The chocolate unit is packed in a premium black coloured two-ply metallised laminate with the variant name printed on the pack.

Soma Roy
Associate manager - packaging quality, Marico
The black and white background adds to the unique and premium look of the pack. The combination of gloss-spot varnish and textured varnish on the mono-carton makes the product convinces the customer to be picked up from the shelf. To put it in a succinct manner, the product depicts ‘simplicity at its best’. The taste profile chart on the back of the pack provides accurate insights about the product in order to interact and educate the consumers. 

Zago Body Buddy Protein ready-to-drink chocolate

An excellent example of user-friendly design enables on-the-go consumption effectively.

Sukhdev Singh Saini
This drink is packed in a transparent polypropylene (PP) bottle. This on-the-go pack consists of a 38-mm neck for ease in the drinking of the liquid. The screw cap is made of PP. The special design on the skirt of the cap enables the consumer to cut open the heat seal foil easily. The cap has a paperboard backing wad inside for better closing. The cap also has a sticker on the outside with opening instructions for guidance. Coming to the decoration part, a matte polyvinylchloride (PVC) shrink-sleeve is used to enhance its look.

Soma Roy
The package is constructed with the bottle along with a shrink-sleeve and screw-on cap. The mouth of the bottle comes with an induction seal. Two types of printing substrates are used here. Firstly, a Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) label on the cap and secondly the Shrink-sleeve. The print is more masculine to communicate a sports drink.

Unfortunately, the white background is dull and the print loses its effectiveness in owing to the product colour. The label on the cap is deployed with single-colour printing and effectively communicates with the consumer mentioning the sharp-points to tear the induction seal. However, the bottle size, shape and design give a feel of holding a power drink in your hand.

The sharp points on the cap ensure zero-contamination of the drink and also allow consumers to decide on critical parameters of point-opening, partial-opening and full-puncturing, which is an excellent concept. However, it might hurt the consumers if the seal is opened by moist fingers.

Kari-Kari Japanese premium snack

This pre-formed stand-up pouch with a transparent window and spot UV embellishment is a shelf differentiator.

Sukhdev Singh Saini
The product is packed in a pre-formed stand-up pouch. It is gravure printed using red and black colour graphics which accentuates the branding. The graphics are highlighted by a matte and gloss combination. There is a transparent window on the front panel for the visibility of the product. There are tear notches provided on both the sides of the pouch for ease in the opening of the pouch.

Soma Roy
The pack contains a combination of matt and glossy print on the gusseted pouch. It consists of a transparent window patch which is in shape of the chilli, providing a see-through look to draw attention to the content packed inside. The structure of the laminate used ensures that the crunchy and crispy product texture is maintained. One scope of improvement is that the pouch should have been a zip-lock pouch for convenient snacking and storage.

Polo – The hole with the mint

This Polo pack takes brand engagement to another level. Not only is the packaging attractive but also functional and effectively allows for multi-use.

Sukhdev Singh Saini 
This pack uses a three-ply metallised pouch with a euro hole in the top seal area which is useful for hanging it on the retail shelf for a better display of pouches. The pouch also consists of an easy tear notch for assistance in the opening of the pouch. 
The inner container has a very innovative flip closing design. The shape of the container depicts the “O” - the original Polo product. The Polypropylene (PP) transparent top has the brand embossing. Its base is made of a blue coloured PP polymer. The best part of the container is the “Press O” aspect, which enables ease in accessing the product.

Soma Roy
 Two interesting features: one is the outer laminated (MetPET) pouch consisting of a punched hole that enables hanging of the pouch on the shelf. The V-notch at both the ends guides the consumers in tearing of the pouch. Coming to the aesthetic side of it, the electric blue colour is quite eye-catching. However, I feel that if the depth of Polo mint had a 3D effect then it would have definitely raised the bar in packaging. The instruction on how to use the inside Polo dispenser is missing. The inner Polo mint dispenser is a well-executed design. The material used is Polypropylene (PP). The user-friendly pack is extremely accurate in dispensing one mint at a time. The packaging ensures that there is no moisture entrapment as the dispensing mouth gets overlapped with the hinge. The freshness of the product is easily demonstrated by the effective rattling noise. 

Nivea Men Crème

The aluminium container with a screw cap and the locking ring is a winning combination of tamper-evidence, product safety, and consumer convenience.

Sukhdev Singh Saini 
The product is packed in an aluminium container with a blue colour print, giving it a premium look. The brand Nivea is embossed on the lid with a white overprint. There is an EPE wad inside the lid for a better fitment. The most striking feature of this pack is the use of ribs along the skirt of the container and the lid that makes the closing remarkably effective. It consists of an aluminium foil with the brand name embossed on it, which is placed to prevent spillage.

Soma Roy
The originality of the Nivea cream is well maintained with the wisely designed screw cap and the locking ring. The can is aluminium drawn and contains a foil seal inside which provides the package with good material sturdiness. The can have a right blend of convenience and strength. One notable aspect about the pack is that the blue colour which consists of the brand name Nivea has a darker depth in comparison to other colours.