Company Blog

The Complete Package

by Adam Zack — August 26, 2015

Tiffany’s package has made girls
hearts race since 1906

I was recently talking to an executive chef that ran a restaurant/gourmet market/patisserie in downtown Los Angeles. It’s called Bottega Louie and they do an amazing amount of sales volume. Amazing. One of their signature items is their homemade French macarons. They sell something like $20,000 a week in these pretty little cookies. And the key to those sales, he felt, was the packaging. They spent money for design and a fancy box, which resulted in the cookies becoming a distinctive and prestigious gift item. Think about it – how often are your purchasing decisions initially influenced by the package or wrapping your eye sees? The king of branded packaging has got to be Tiffany. The sight of a Tiffany Blue Box with the signature white satin ribbon has made girls’ hearts race since 1906. It’s brilliant branding.

As grocers we are always working to reduce costs and a significant expense in the industry is wrap and packaging supplies. We are always looking for cheaper. But does that sandwich on a foam tray wrapped tight in plastic wrap really help the sales? Nope. And does that fruit parfait that gets put in the least expensive plastic cup really look like something you want to serve your family and guests? Again, nope. A few years back Jensen’s Finest Foods, a family owned small chain in California started making signature chicken pot pies. But instead of putting them in aluminum pans like everyone else, they used white porcelain ramekins. The cost of them (about a buck) was reflected in the retail price, and the sales of those pot pies went nuts. They were selling over 500 pot pies a week at $7 a pop. Wow. Packaging sells.