Smart Food Packaging Can Offer an Edge

Food companies are increasingly investing in packaging innovations to give them a competitive edge on store shelves. As manufacturing processes become cheaper and easier to develop, more attention is being given to both the forms and the functions of food packages.

Food Processing offers a survey of some of the more innovative designs: frozen baby meals that come in an ice-cube-tray-like container, each cell of which is easily separated from the others for eating and serving; a line of specialty pies that are housed in packages that look like gift boxes, but are still sturdy and easy to use; pre-made frozen brownies from Pinnacle Foods that (supposedly, anyway) taste as good as those made with the company's Duncan Hines brand brownie mix (which, I can attest, are quite tasty).

The article goes on to give several more excellent examples. But I'm still waiting for the day when the bags in all cereal boxes are easy to open without spilling the contents all over the kitchen.