Speciality Food: The role of packaging in 2026
Its function may seem simple, but there are a lot of powers at play in the packaging sector right now.
What do fine food retailers need to know about packaging in 2026? experts share their take on the sector’s priorities and why sustainability, innovation and strong design are at the heart.
Lawrence Barnett, MD of Wonderland Design
One of the defining factors in food and drink branding today is the rise of functional messaging versus emotional brand storytelling. It’s my belief that your pack IS the embodiment of your brand. Confident, distinctive branding on pack is critical to winning consumer appeal.
Food and drink brands, particularly at the premium end, must rely on cues of pleasure, provenance and craft. Consumers buy into a sense of goodness or taste expectation just as much (if not more) as they do nutritional or environmental benefit. Therefore, packaging remains sacrosanct: the primary vehicle for communicating individuality and emotional appeal.
Brands that reduce packs to functional billboards risk diluting the sensory anticipation that makes food and drink brands desirable in the first place. Consumers are becoming more attuned to brands that balance honesty with enjoyment. The strongest contemporary packaging systems integrate key functional claims without allowing them to overpower the brand’s appeal. Simplicity remains a very good guiding principle! Less is often more.
Successful pack branding appears to be shifting towards understated confidence*. The most enduring food and drink brands use design to build recognisable worlds through colour, typography, language and personality and consider sides, backs and even shelf ready packaging to incorporate supporting messaging that does not make it to the front of the pack. The challenge for packaging designers now is not whether to include functional or environmental messaging, but how to prevent it from eclipsing the emotional power of the brand itself.
‘The role of packaging in 2026: 4 expert views‘ by Speciality Food Magazine
https://www.specialityfoodmagazine.com/industry/the-role-of-packaging-in-2026
