Selig Group (seligsealing.com), a global leader in sealing solutions, has announced new consumer research results[i] that show that when selecting a product, freshness, as well as tamper and leak proof packaging is of greatest concern.

The research, carried out with U.S. consumers in focus group discussions asked detailed questions to gauge their experiences with milk, peanut butter, mayonnaise and protein powder seals on packaging.  Although ease of opening was ranked as important, safety, leak prevention and maintaining freshness were ranked as extremely important.

The focus groups were shown packaging with three sealing methods; products protected only by closure, those with an induction seal and those with a Selig Lift ‘n’ Peel™ ½ moon tabbed induction seal. The majority of consumers preferred induction sealed packaging, stating that in their opinion it promoted safety, leak prevention and freshness.  Induction sealed packages were preferred by consumers in all four product categories as opposed to packages sealed only with a closures, with Selig’s Lift ‘n’ Peel proving the most popular sealing method across the board. 

A total 100% of those surveyed wanted their peanut butter and protein powder to come in packaging with an induction seal. 77% also chose the Lift ‘n’ Peel seal as their liner of choice for peanut butter and 100% chose it for the protein powder. The mayonnaise saw similar preferences, with 86% of consumers wanting their packaging to have a liner, with 83% of these consumers opting for the Lift ‘n’ Peel seal. Respondents still showed a strong preference for their milk to be induction sealed, with 77% wanting the product to come with a liner and of these, 33% wanted a liner and tamper band and 44% preferred the Lift ‘n’ Peel seal. Interestingly, a third of respondents said that they would change milk brand to get the sealing method that they preferred.

“The research results reinforce what we have been working hard to achieve at Selig for years. Consumers are highly motivated by safety and want to buy products that are secure, won’t leak, are as fresh as possible and are easy to open. By doing this detailed research, we were able to set our seal technology against standard induction liners and the results speak for themselves; in every category, the consumers chose Lift ‘n’ Peel for packaging functionality and seal integrity," says John Brown, VP, global marketing.

^[i] Source: NSM Research Inc. September 2016. 4 focus groups of 75 min each and 7 frequent product user respondents per group.  All were also given pre-group homework that included recording and sending in video of self opening milk and target category and the completion of an online survey about their current experience of packaging.