Last Weekend I attended a huge multi-category trade show for healthy and natural consumer products including food/beverage, personal care and beauty, household cleaning, supplements, and ingredient and equipment suppliers. It was a really fun time seeing all the various exhibitors from big brands like Burt’s Bees to smaller regional manufacturers.
My intent in walking the show was to scout interesting new products for a business partner who couldn’t attend, and identify any potential importers whom I could assist in lowering their ocean shipping costs (my second job).
While there’s a lot to say, I figured I’d break it down into the following thoughts:
- Wheat (gluten) -free grain products are getting big because of increasing health concerns on adverse effects on the body to some people.
- Acai and Goji berries are going mainstream into more drinks and supplements for their energy & health related properties.
- Vegan and organic products are now more affordable, and from the sampling I did, can taste pretty good.
Those were the noticeable trends. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but consider some other aspects as I walked around. The first thing I was always looking for was packaging. On a retail shelf, shoppers will only glance around for a few seconds. What catches the eye, is what gets picked up for further examination.
- Stand away from the item and look – Is the typography readable? Can you quickly identify what this product specifically is or does? (apart from the obvious attributes if you were in that section of the store)
- Is there too much noise on the packaging in terms of text and graphics? Oftentimes keeping the facing side minimal is the best way to go.
While appealing and bright colors are great for springtime, it often goes the distance to select the right shades and saturation degrees. And before I close, allow me to give one word of advice (especially to supplement vendors): Do NOT use Times Roman bold anywhere in your visual design, whether it be in your marketing materials, banner, or packaging – It’s really just that ugly, and shows us that you didn’t take design into much consideration.
For more info on the trends from the show, see Chain Leader’s article – A Taste of the Next Big Things