Is Your Packaging Helping—or Hurting—Your Brand?

In the produce department, packaging isn’t just a functional wrapper—it’s the first handshake your brand has with the consumer. Done well, it reinforces your promise. Done poorly, it undermines it. Here are three things to ask yourself in evaluating whether your packaging is serving your brand—or working against it.

1. Does the packaging reflect your brand promise and differentiate you?
   • When consumers pick up a clamshell of berries, or a bag of greens, they’re making brand judgments instantly. Packaging that clearly communicates quality, origin, freshness, and your unique value adds brand strength. For example, a bold logo, clear imagery of the farm, or a simple declaration of “grown by family-farmers” aligns packaging with your brand story. On the flip side, generic containers, indistinct labeling or inconsistent branding can force consumers to mentally slot your product into the “commodity” bucket—erasing any premium or differentiated positioning you worked hard to establish. If your packaging doesn’t scream your brand identity (or whispers it too quietly), you may be diluting your own positioning.
2. Does packaging help or hinder the consumer’s experience—and does that align with your brand
   • Physical experience matters. Easy-to-open seals, clear windows to view the produce, handles for convenience, minimal waste—these tactile, visual and functional cues create brand equity. If your brand positions itself as “fresh convenience for busy families,” but the bag is hard to open, opaque, or leaks, you’re undercutting that promise. On the contrary, packaging that makes life easier (for example, resealable pouches for leafy greens, or portion-friendly punnets) reinforces your brand promise and builds loyalty. Conversely, over-packaging, fiddly closures, or packaging that fails to protect the produce are silent brand saboteurs—they signal that you don’t care about the experience, and therefore maybe don’t care about the brand.
3. Does your packaging support your brand’s values and sustainability story—or does it contradict them?
   • Increasingly, consumers evaluating produce do so through the lens of sustainability, ethical sourcing, transparency and waste reduction. If your brand claims to be “eco-conscious,” then packaging must align—think recyclable materials, minimal plastic, clear calls to action (“please recycle”), or even compostable options. If your packaging uses heavy plastics, layered materials that can’t be separated, or over-packages simply for shelf-impact, you risk being branded hypocritical: your message says one thing, your packaging says another. On the other hand, packaging that visibly demonstrates your commitment to sustainability reinforces your brand and can become a competitive advantage—especially in the produce aisle where many items are viewed as a “commodity” and differentiation is hard.

Packaging is much more than a container—it’s a brand touchpoint. If your produce packaging reflects your story, supports the consumer experience, and aligns with your values, it propels your brand forward. If it misses on any of these, it could be quietly eroding your brand equity and leaving you vulnerable to commoditization.

Ask yourself: when a shopper picks up your product, does the packaging make them feel your brand—and choose you? Or does it default them into “just another option”? Your packaging either helps your brand win—or it doesn’t. Make it count.