A Look back in Time | Trends in Consumption | interpack | Packaging Trends

Trends in Consumption

Decision at the shelf

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In 1962 there are already 30,000 selfservice shops in the Federal Republic of Germany. These shops then become supermarkets, with growing sales area, and the addition of non-food items. The new form of goods presentation in the supermarket brings challenges for packaging design. Many competing products are placed on the shelves on more or less equal terms. Branded products have the advantage due to their unmistakable outer appearance. The brand principle is extended to groups of goods that have been relatively unaffected by it, such as milk products and baked goods. Impulse purchases make up an ever-increasing proportion of turnover. Individual offers are especially emphasized, and sales aids such as displays are used to do this.

Celebrated as progress

The typical product of the time is the ready-made meal. There are hot tinned foods, freeze-dried sauces and soups out of a bag as well as the TV dinner. Deep frozen food boasts enormous rates of growth, because it fits in with the arrangement of everyday life and the distribution channel of the supermarket. The plastic shopping bag, accessory of mass consumption, becomes ever more wide-spread. The trend towards single-use packaging also illustrates the departure from a kind of consumption characterized by frugality and sustainability. Milk in composite cartons is increasingly in demand.