The History of Food Packaging

From metal tins and glass bottles, to plastic bags and foil-lined packets, food packaging has come a long way in its relatively short history. We now have tens, if not hundreds, of packaging materials and designs at our finger tips, but it wasn’t always this way.

Let’s jump in our metaphorical time machine and take a look back at the history of food packaging over the last century.

Pre 20th Century Food Packaging

Hundreds of years ago food was mostly grown and produced locally and therefore, there was no need for packaging. Of course, luxury goods like sugar were the exception and were imported on ships in sacks or barrels.

The Early 20th Century

But as time went on, populations grew, industries advanced and transport of food became essential. The industrial revolution saw a large amount of innovations, including metal cans and cardboard boxes. Manufacturing processes vastly improved and there was a mutual belief among luxury goods suppliers that the quality of packaging should reflect the quality of their food inside.

Quality at this time meant long lasting and durable, so packaging was designed to have multiple functions. A great example of this was tobacco packs being used as lunch and picnic tins. However, despite dual-use properties, packaging at this time was very rigid and quite expensive to produce, therefore many sought better ways to protect and display their lovingly crafted produce.

The Great Depression saw the rise of the supermarket, which dramatically changed the face of food packaging as we knew it. Post World War Two, one-use materials were introduced into everyday life, such as foil and plastics. Gone were the days of local retailers weighing and hand-wrapping loose items, the introduction of stocked shelves was taking off and packaging was the store’s ‘silent salesman’.

Around this time, aniline printing technology (now known as flexography) was invented, which allowed realistic images to be printed on packaging. This rubber block printing technique was much more accurate than anything else previously used and therefore the food packaging industry saw considerably more elaborate designs quickly flooding the market.

There were also many innovations with aluminium and plastic during this time, with cheaper, more flexible packaging materials becoming more commonplace.

The 1950s to 1980s

Great strides were made during these three decades. The TV dinner was invented by Swanson for the busy working professional who served up their pre-prepared dishes in aluminium departmentalised trays. Polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate were created for food bags and film covers too, whereas the design of aluminium cans was revolutionised with a simpler and more cost-effective design.

Despite being invented in the 50s, it wasn’t until the mid-70s that the first barcode scanner was installed at a supermarket. Since then, barcodes have developed to become an everyday familiarity for many of us.

The 1990s to Today

With the invention of the internet and digital technologies expanding greatly, global business became commonplace and no longer restricted to the mega brands. This meant there was more competition and packaging took on a more important role than ever, after all it was this that made your food item stand out amongst the rest on the shelf.

In 2008 labels and packaging began providing shoppers with even more information and resources by placing quick response (QR) codes on products. Easily scanned by a smart phone these direct the customer to an internet page holding anything from further product information, such as ingredients, to a competition run by the brand.

Throughout the early 21st century, many packaging companies and big food producers have grown a conscience  and have begun looking for more ecological solutions to their packaging needs. Recyclable cartons and refillable jars have really taken off, and food retailers continue to come up with innovative solutions every day.

Read more: How to Make Your Packaging as ECO Friendly as Your Products

We don’t need to tell you about today’s packaging in 2016, but the future of the food packaging industry? That’s another blog post. Read all about the latest packaging trends in the following post…

Read more: Innovative Packaging Trends for 2016

Can you imagine a time when packaging was just a way of storing and transporting food? There were no mascots or big bubble letters or any “Fat Free!” indicators. Packages served one purpose: holding food. How boring, right?

Nowadays, eye-catching and colorful food packaging design is one of the biggest influences on whether or not a person decides to buy a product.

Not to mention the strides that the industry has made in developing more advanced forms of packaging with the advent of materials like flexible plastics and innovations like resealable bags.

What do people do without resealable packaging? Eat stale crackers?

The packaging design was much more simple in the first half of the twentieth century and is continuing to evolve and grow more complex to this day. Back in the day, it could be difficult to differentiate between brands because of how simple and uninspired the designs could be.

Today, packaging has advanced not only in functionality but as a way to establish brand identity and consumer-loyalty as well.

Read on to learn more about how the simplistic packaging of the past has evolved into the products that you see on your store shelves today.

Introducing the Silent Salesman

The industrial revolution had a major influence on the way food packaging was designed and developed. As machines replaced hands as the primary method of manufacturing products, packaging advanced and production became faster and more efficient.

With the growing popularity of grocery stores and supermarkets in the first half of the twentieth century, packaging importance surrounded brand recognition and marketing to consumers.. No longer was packaging simply relegated to the storage and transportation of foodstuffs.

Food branding and packaging came to be known as the “silent salesman,” a term which refers to the way packaging helps products to form a psychological connection with consumers.

In post-WWII America, the development of new packaging technologies like plastics and aluminum foil helped popularize the growing design trend of convenient,  multi use-, packaging.

As technologies have increased, production of more advanced packaging styles has increased as well. Complex shapes, colors, and materials have become widely available and are easier to produce on a large scale.

Going Green

A renaissance concerning food wastage that occurred at the backend of the twentieth century led to a colossal shift in the way food products were packaged.

Due to low-quality packaging and inefficient manufacturing methods, lots of packaging waste was accruing across the world. This packaging was negatively affecting the environment and leading to a high percentage of fresh and frozen food products going bad and having to be thrown out.

Russia, in particular, was wasting around seventy percent of their potatoes and over half of their fresh produce due to poor packaging practices.

Another renaissance that occurred in the packaging industry was focused on environmental awareness. In the twenty-first century, the types of materials being used in packaging products have become a major focus.

There is an increased effort to utilize materials that are recyclable or have been manufactured from other recycled products.

Lots of packaging comes with indications of recyclability, as well as specific instructions about the best way to dispose of or recycle the material in the most ethical and environmentally-friendly manner.

Increased Focus on Nutrition

Health and nutritional information being present on food packaging has become increasingly important in the last forty years due to public health concerns.

It is now required by law for food manufacturers to completely and accurately state all nutritional information about their products, as well as list every ingredient that is used.

In more recent years, certain brands have begun prominently displaying their products’ nutritional information on the front of their packaging as a way to increase sales and more effectively market to certain demographics.

Evolution of Packaging Materials

Glass

Glass is the oldest of all the packaging materials, with its roots having been traced back to more than five thousand years ago.

In the past, glass bottles were rare commodities manufactured by skilled glass-blowers who dedicated their lives to their craft. However, after the industrial revolution of the twentieth century, glass bottles became an affordable, mass-produced container.

In 1903, an American inventor named Michael Owens invented an automatic glass-forming machine, which could produce more glass bottles in a single hour than a team of glass blowers could in an entire day.

Glass is most commonly used for beer, soda, and wine bottles. Glass is an excellent method of storing food as it does not affect taste and can be reused over and over again without diminishing its quality.

Paper

Paper may be the oldest form of what is known today as “flexible packaging,” however, it wasn’t until 1867 that paper originating from wood pulp was developed.

The very first cardboard box was created in 1817 in England, more than two hundred years after the Chinese first invented cardboard, and commercial paper bags were first made available in 1844, also in England.

Cardboard and paper packaging were extremely popular at the advent of the twentieth century, but, by the time the 70s and 80s came around, plastic began to replace paper as the primary material used for packaging food.

Metals

Metals have been used as food-packaging materials since the mid-1800s. The two most common types of metals used are tin-coated steel and aluminum. Metal is great for sterilization and packaging foods that are sensitive to light.

Aluminum has increasingly been used as a method of canning due to its low weight, low cost, and capacity to be recycled.

The origin of the aluminum can traces back to 1959 when Coors introduced the very first aluminum can, as well as the concept of recycling the cans by paying one cent per can returned to the brewery.

It wasn’t until the mid-1960s that aluminum cans were introduced to the soft drink industry by Royal Crown Cola. Aluminum cans proved easy to print graphics, logo designs, colors, and text on; another reason that they are still widely used today: to promote brand identity and awareness

Plastics

Plastic was first revealed to the world in 1862 at the Great International Exhibition in London by Alexander Parks. This material was referred to as “Parkesine” and was derived from cellulose.

More than seventy years later, in 1933, Ralph Wiley paved the way for a huge leap forward in plastic technologies when he accidentally discovered a new form of plastic: polyvinylidene chloride. This led to the creation of Saran Wrap.

This new material would cling to almost any surface and represented the beginning of a new era of plastics being used for airtight concealment of food products. Another breakout invention would follow with the creation of Tupperware in 1946.

In recent years, flexible plastic packaging has made a huge splash in the food industry. Plastic packaging has introduced a level of intuitiveness and versatility that more rigid materials, like glass and metals, never allowed for.

Today, plastic is the most widely-used material in the food packaging industry.

Here at Plastic Packaging Technologies, we are, needless to say, a bit partial to  flexible packaging. We offer a wide variety of highly-customizable packaging solutions to help take your food products to market. . 

Our product packaging designs are durable, efficient, and friendly to the environment and will help you connect with your consumers like never before.

If you’re looking for a new way to package your food products, contact us today and learn how we can help your brand awareness grow.