Jenn David Connolly

Having partnered with specialty food brands for nearly two decades, I've learned more than a few things along the way. Specializing in only food CPG brands has allowed me to finely hone in on best practices that can transform packaging into a workhorse to sell itself, be it on the shelf or online.

If your product qualifies for organic certification, should you do it? It's ironic that you can use ingredients treated with many different chemical pesticides and not have to state anything about the use of chemicals on your package, but if you use organic ingredients and want to promote the word "organic" on your food package you have to pay a yearly fee for organic certification.

Every year I look forward to attending the Fancy Food Show. Walking around the show this year, very few packaging designs caught my eye. Quite honestly, this took me by surprise. I saw many missed opportunities that didn’t fully utilize the packaging as a marketing platform, as well as some fundamental design flaws. I began to wonder, have I become more discriminating in evaluating packaging? Or, have more people begun to settle for “good enough?”

Many startup food brands are choosing to launch and sell their products only online – such as through Amazon – as their sole retail outlet. Designing a food package for online is very similar to designing for traditional retail shelf space. However there are a few additional key aspects to consider.