Packing Innovations; Cereal

Packing Innovations; Cereal

The Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company, set up by Dr John Harvey Kellogg and later renamed Kellogg’s, was one of the early innovators in packaging.  In a bid to encourage America to ditch the fat laden breakfast of choice, the company realised that they didn’t just need to create healthier alternatives; they also needed to actively market their cereals and printed packaging could play a vital role.

Marketing with Printed Boxes

Kellogg’s cornflakes were one of the first products to be packaged in printed cardboard boxes. Rather than simply stating the product inside, the Kellogg’s printed cardboard boxes aimed to entice consumers. They began by promoting the health benefits of their breakfast in an early 20^th Century version of what we might see on a Special K box today; slim attractive women enjoying the great outdoors.

As time went on, Kellogg’s cereals broadened their horizons: a focus on everyone enjoying a healthy start to the day, rather than just people in need of special diets for health reasons. New products were developed to appeal to different consumers and a variety of marketing ideas were applied to the product packaging design.

Tokens were included in the packaging design, so children could cut out tokens to send off for promotional gifts and little toys were even added to the cereal. These were usually part of a collection, which encouraged the children to request more cereal boxes in order to find other toys in the range. Animated characters such as Tony the Tiger were also developed for specific cereals (in this example Frosties) and featured on the boxes.

Packaging Innovations

In addition to printed cardboard boxes, Kellogg’s also invested in other packaging innovations. One of the earliest was ‘Waxtite’ wrappers, which helped to keep the cereals fresh. This and other innovations have filtered out into the packaging market to help preserve food quality for the benefit of consumers.

Kellogg’s have never under-estimated the role that packaging plays in attracting consumer interest, building brand loyalty and ensuring that their customers could always enjoy a quality breakfast. Can Aylesbury Box Company help your company to do the same?