If you’re developing a supplement, you should know that the supplement format you choose for your product can have a significant impact on the way it works. Some formats are longer lasting. Others are faster acting. Others have greater bioavailability, meaning that more of the supplement’s active ingredients are able to enter the bloodstream. Even different pill formats, like capsules vs tablets, work differently and have different advantages and disadvantages.
Are you interested in learning about the differences between capsules vs tablets?
Although capsules and tablets work in similar ways, there are some key differences that supplement brands should keep in mind when deciding between these two formats for their supplement manufacturing. These considerations include price, durability, dosage capabilities, absorption speed, bioavailability, and consumer preferences. If you’re interested in learning about pill formats, specifically the differences between capsules vs tablets, consider this your guide.
What are tablets?
Tablets are pills, containing vitamins, minerals, or other forms of dietary supplements, that are meant to be swallowed or chewed. After the tablet is swallowed, the contents of the tablet are released into the bloodstream through the digestive tract.
Tablets are made by compressing one or more powdered ingredients to form a hard, solid, smooth-coated pill. In addition to active ingredients, most tablets also contain certain additives to help bind all of its ingredients together. Some tablets also contain additional additives to improve other characteristics of the tablet, like its color, smell, or taste.
Tablets come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are round. Others are oblong. Many have a split down the middle for dosing purposes. Consumers can break the tablet apart and choose to take only half if necessary. This split also helps consumers who have trouble swallowing a full pill. Many supplement brands choose to add a smooth sugar coating to their supplements for taste, and so they’re easier to swallow.
What are capsules?
Capsules, like tablets, are pills, containing vitamins, minerals, or other forms of dietary supplements, that are meant to be swallowed. Once again, like tablets, after capsules are swallowed, their contents are released into the bloodstream through the digestive tract.
Unlike tablets, however, capsules are not made by compressing powder ingredients. Rather, powder ingredients are enclosed in an outer shell. The purpose of the outer shell is to hold the ingredients until the pill is swallowed. Once swallowed, the outer shell is broken down, and the ingredients are released into the digestive tract.
There are two types of capsules: hard-shell capsules and softgel capsules.
Hard-shell capsules
Hard-shell capsules are usually meant to carry powder ingredients. They consist of two halves that come together to form an enclosed casing around the powder ingredients. Hard-shell capsules are usually completely transparent so consumers can see the powder ingredients inside.
Softgels
Unlike hard-shell capsules, softgels carry liquid ingredients. Softgels consist of a gelatin-based shell surrounding a liquid fill. They’re produced in a process known as encapsulation which can best be described as a form/fill/seal process. Softgels are typically a bit easier to swallow than hard-shell capsules because of their malleable nature. They also have a longer shelf-life since the liquid ingredients inside are more tightly sealed.
Price differences
One of the first questions that supplement brand owners what to know in regards to capsules vs tablets involves the price differences between them. Which are cheapest to manufacture? Which are the most expensive?
Of tablets, hard-shell capsules, and softgels, tablets are typically the simplest and cheapest to manufacture. Hard-shell capsules come in second place, and softgels are usually the most complicated and most expensive.
Durability differences
Durability, also described as stability or shelf-life, is another important factor supplement brands and manufacturers should consider when choosing a format for their supplements. The format of your supplement plays a part in how long its active ingredients will last and how long these ingredients will be considered effective.
Tablets and softgels are typically longer-lasting than hard-shell capsules. This is because with tablets and softgels, the ingredients are completely sealed and unexposed to environmental factors. With hard-shell capsules, the ingredients inside are sealed but not completely. Oxygen and moisture can still make their way through the small space in which the two halves of the capsule come together.
Dosage differences
Dosing is another factor you should take into account when choosing an appropriate supplement format for your supplement. Not all pill supplements can include the same amount of ingredients. A single dose in one format may involve only one pill. In another format, the consumer may have to take two or three pills for the same dosage.
Tablets can contain a higher dosage than both softgels and capsules. This is because the ingredients in tablets are tightly compressed, which means more ingredients can be packed into one small pill. Since ingredients in softgels and hard-shell capsules can’t be compressed, both carry smaller doses of active ingredients.
Tablets also offer the option for consumers to modify their own dosage. Many tablets feature a line, called a score, so that consumers can easily break it in half and only take half a dose. This also makes it easier for consumers who have a hard time swallowing pills. They can swallow one half and then the other half, instead of the whole pill at once. Capsules and softgels don’t offer this option to consumers.
It is worth mentioning, however, that capsules can be opened, which means consumers have direct access to the powders inside. Many consumers who don’t like swallowing pills buy capsules, open them, and mix the powder ingredients on the inside with food or liquids. This method is particularly helpful for parents and caregivers.
Absorption speed
In all of the pill formats mentioned (tablets, hard-shell capsules, and softgels), the pill’s ingredients are broken down in the digestive tract, and its active ingredients are absorbed into the bloodstream. That being said, not all pill formats feature the same absorption speed.
Softgel capsules have the fastest absorption speed, meaning they have the fastest effect. It’s easy for the body to break down the capsule’s outer shell and access the readily-available liquid ingredients on the inside.
Capsules come in second place. It’s just as easy for the body to break down the capsules outer shell but more difficult for the body to absorb powder ingredients as opposed to liquid ingredients. Tablets having the slowest absorption rate.
Although fast absorption is certainly important for some supplements, namely supplements that help to ease pain or pre-workout supplements, not all supplements need to be fast-acting. In fact, some supplements work better when absorbed slowly, giving the body a slow but constant supply of the nutrients it needs, rather than all of them in one quick shot.
Bioavailability differences
When a pill is ingested, not all of its active ingredients are always absorbed into the bloodstream. Bioavailability is defined as the proportion of the supplement’s active ingredients that are actually absorbed into the blood. It should be no surprise that not all pill formats feature the same bioavailability.
Capsules and softgels have higher bioavailability than tablets, which means more of the pills’ active ingredients are absorbed in the bloodstream. This could make hard-shell capsules and softgels slightly more effective than tablets.
Consumer preferences
Last, but not least, is the topic of consumer preferences. What pill format do consumers prefer to buy? What pill format leads to more compliance from consumers? (More compliance means more sales for supplement brands.)
As a general rule, consumers prefer capsules and softgels to tablets, and they’re very clear about their reasons why – “They’re easier to swallow.” Consumers are also more compliant when taking capsules and softgels. Once again, the reason relates back to the experience of taking the pills. Capsules and softgels are easier to swallow, less likely to get stuck in the back of the throat, and are often tasteless. All of the aforementioned makes taking capsules and softgels a better experience than taking tablets.
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Capsules vs Tablets – Pros and Cons
We’ve reviewed the most important factors to consider when choosing a pill format for your supplement. Below is a quick snapshot of the most important advantages and disadvantages of hard-shell capsules, softgels, and tablets.
There is a lot to keep in mind when choosing appropriate formats for your supplements. That being said, with a little help, choosing formats can be a fun and exciting process.
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re making the right decision is by choosing a supplement manufacturer that can offer you advice. That way, you can get tips and advice from experts who not only understand supplement format options but also understand the industry, your exact product, and the needs of your customers.
Supplement packaging is an extremely important topic for supplement brands and supplement manufacturers. The right packaging can help you retain old customers, attract new customers, and help your brand stand out. The wrong packaging, on the other hand, could be a real turn-off for your customers, causing them to look elsewhere to fulfill their supplement needs.
Your supplement packaging should be a strategic decision, tailored to your target market and your unique objectives. If your market is older, you might consider special easy-open packaging options. If you’re selling gummy supplements, you might consider transparent packaging. If you’re interested in expanding your market, you might consider single-use pill pouches, stick packs, or liquid shots to offer smaller samples that require less investment.
In this article, you’ll learn all about your supplement packaging options for various supplement formats, including key considerations for different markets and the general pros and cons of each type of packaging.
Supplement packaging for pills (capsules, tablets, and softgels)
Packaging options for pills like tablets, capsules, and softgels generally include bottles or jars (made of plastic or glass), blister packs, and, a relatively new packaging option – pill pouches. When choosing packaging for pills, there are a couple of key points to consider.
First and foremost, you should consider the sensitivity of your pills. Could they withstand crashing around in a bottle or would the crashing cause them to break apart? Are they highly sensitive to oxygen or moisture? If your pills are sensitive, blister packaging may be your best option.
You should also consider how you intend for your target market to take your supplements. If your supplements are meant to be taken daily, blister packs can help your customers stay compliant. If you want to give out a small sample, pill pouches could be a good option.
Sustainability is also a major point to consider when choosing supplement packaging. Blister packs and pill pouches take up less space in a landfill, making both options more sustainable than plastic bottles.
Bottles for pills
Benefits
Bottles look great on a shelf.
Plastic bottles are durable.
Plastic bottle production is generally quite cheap.
Bottles offer many options in terms of opening which you can choose based on your market.
Disadvantages
Plastic bottles are less sustainable.
Glass bottles can break.
Bottles are not the best option for supplements that are highly sensitive to movement, oxygen or moisture.
Packaging options for powders usually include canisters, pouch packaging, and stick packs. Once again, each option has its own unique set of benefits and disadvantages.
As far as multiple-dose packaging is concerned (canisters vs. pouch packaging), canisters are the more durable option. They are less likely to puncture than pouches and also generally close easier, which is important for keeping many supplement powders fresh and long-lasting. That being said, pouches are more convenient to travel with and are also much more sustainable since they take up much less space in landfills.
For single-use powder packaging, stick packs are the way to go. Stick packs provide a way for you to offer samples of your powders to consumers and also serve as perfect impulse items.
Canisters for powders
Benefits
Canisters are the most durable option.
They look great on a shelf.
They are generally easier to close, meaning powders stay fresher for longer.
There are many supplement packaging options for liquid supplements, including options for both single-dose and multiple-dose liquids.
For multiple-dose options, supplements brands can choose either bottles or liquid droppers. With bottles, consumers are typically instructed to swallow one or two tablespoons of the contents of the bottle. With liquid droppers, consumers are usually instructed to drop one or two drops of the liquid vitamin under their tongues.
Single-dose options include small shot bottles and squeeze packs. Both have certain advantages and disadvantages for consumers.
They’re convenient to store when buying more than one.
They’re convenient for travel.
Disadvantages
Not everyone likes to drink through a squeeze bottle.
Supplement packaging for gummies
Gummy supplements are a rising trend in the supplement industry. They’re easy to take, taste good, and are highly customizable in terms of shapes, colors, and flavors. In terms of packaging gummies, the most important thing to keep in mind is the advantage of transparent packaging. If you spent time creating fun shapes and enticing colors, you’ll want to show them off.
There are two primary types of supplement packaging for gummies – bottles and pouches. Bottles are the preferred type of packaging for gummies mostly for their durability, but pouches are also a great option. Pouches are great for selling small samples of your gummies. They’re also more convenient for travelers and make great impulse items.
Bottles for gummies
Benefits
They’re the standard, preferred packaging for gummy vitamins.
They’re durable and will protect your gummies.
They look great on the shelf.
Disadvantages
They’re bulky and hard to travel with.
They’re less sustainable.
Pill pouches for gummies
Benefits
They’re great for offering samples.
They make great impulse items.
They’re a sustainable option.
They’re convenient to store when buying more than one.
They’re convenient for travel.
Disadvantages
They’re not very durable.
Conclusions: Choosing supplement packaging
There is a lot to keep in mind when choosing supplement packaging, but with a little help, choosing packaging can be a fun and exciting process!
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re choosing the right packaging for your supplements is by choosing a supplement manufacturer that also handles your packaging and supplement label design. That way, you can get tips and advice from experts who not only understand packaging options but also understand the industry, your exact product, and the needs of your customers.
As a supplement brand, you can work tirelessly on manufacturing supplements that serve all of the needs of your target audience. The truth is, without an eye-catching supplement label design, your products may never make it off the shelf. Your supplement label design is absolutely crucial to selling your product.
Are you ready to design a label that resonates with your target audience and flies off the shelf? In this article, you’ll learn 13 effective tips and tricks to design a supplement label for your target audience.
1. Find inspiration in who your target audience wants to be
Every aspect of your supplement brand, including your supplement label design, should be inspired by your target audience. This concept may seem obvious enough, but here’s a special pointer:
If you want to see massive sales, you don’t want to design a label that resonates with who your target audience is. Rather, you want to design a label that resonates with who they want to be.
People don’t just buy supplements to improve their nutrition; they buy supplements to become better versions of themselves. If you can uncover who your target audience wants to be, you can design a label so that your customers feel like this person from the moment they purchase your product.
2. Find inspiration in other products your audience is buying
Another good idea is to check out other products (specifically, other brands) your target audience is buying and take notes on design elements of these products.
Say, for example, your target audience is upper-class men in their twenties who want to improve their physical appearance. You might take a look at the label design of the hair products or shaving products these men buy. What do you notice about these labels? Do they use dark colors or light colors? Capital or lowercase? Serif or san-serif font?
The best brands design their labels after researching their target market. You can get ahead of the game by researching your target market’s favorite brands instead.
You’re also going to want to research your direct competitions’ supplement label design. How are companies with similar supplement products and similar target markets designing their labels?
There are a couple of reasons why this is a good idea. First, you can use other brands as inspiration for your own (a similar concept to the one explained above). Secondly, even if you do use other brands as inspiration, you’re going to have to find a way to stand out.
Chances are, there are quite a few products out there already that are similar to the products you’re trying to sell and that also have a similar target market. That means, if someone from your target audience is looking for a product, they’ll have to decide between yours and other similar products out there.
That’s why, even if you do use other similar brands as inspiration for your own supplement label design, you still have to find a way to stand out. What will make consumers choose your product over the others they’re looking at?
4. Pay attention to color
Color is very important when it comes to supplement label design. First and foremost, colors are extremely powerful symbols of communication. Every color contains a hidden message and a hidden emotional charge. Secondly, most consumers will notice your color before noticing any other aspects of your design. That’s why it’s very important to choose your colors wisely.
Red is a color of power and action, but can also signify importance or danger. Light blue is representative of calmness and serenity, while dark blue is also a symbol of responsibility and trustworthiness. Purple signifies royalty, wealth, and luxury. Likewise, green can signify wealth but also symbolizes nature, new beginnings, luck, and abundance.
When choosing colors for your supplement label design, ask yourself, “What colors will resonate with my target market and who they want to be? What colors best communicate what my brand is all about, including the best features and benefits of my brand?” Those are the colors you want to use.
Typography, or font, is another highly effective method of symbolic communication. When it comes to supplement label design, consumers often notice the way letters look and the feelings the letters convey before actually noticing what the letters say.
Big, bold lettering, for example, symbolizes strength and power. This type of lettering could be a good choice if your brand specializes in building muscle. Thin, delicate lettering, on the other hand, represents sensitivity and care – a great option for skincare supplements. Rounded letters evoke a sense of juvenile comfort – perfect for kids’ vitamins. Italics represent movement, change, and speed – a good choice for athletes.
Font can be a great means of symbolic communication and a great way to make your brand stand out. Just be careful not to get too carried away with crazy fonts. At the end of the day, it has to be readable.
6. Play with a mood board
Your brand message and the emotions your brand evokes will, ultimately, result from the complete picture of your supplement label design. This includes your colors, typography, imagery, messaging, and so on. Once you think you know what kind of message you want to convey, what kind of emotions you want to evoke, and what colors, typography, and imagery you plan to use to do it, it’s a good idea to test this out using a mood board.
A mood board is a type of visual presentation (typically a collage consisting of images, texts, and other objects) that is used to convey a general idea or feeling about a particular topic (in this case, your brand). Here’s a more complete explanation.
Create your mood board using the colors, text, and imagery you were imagining for your brand, and then perform an experiment. Ask members of your target audience what they feel when they look at your mood board. Do they mention the emotions that you want your brand to evoke? Do they make your target audience feel like the person they want to be?
7. Focus on benefits, not features
Once you have a good idea of the design aspects of your supplement label design, it’s time to start thinking of your actual messaging. What will your box, bottle, or pouch say? How will you talk about what your supplement is and what it can actually do for your consumers?
At this point, there is one key rule to remember: Focus on benefits, not features. That is, don’t describe what your product is. Rather, describe what your product can do. This takes all of the guesswork out for consumers and makes it easier for them to jump to the conclusion to purchase. It also makes them feel more understood.
Here’s an easy example of what we mean: Say you decided to make extra small pills so they’re easier to swallow. The feature is that they’re extra small. The benefit is that they’re easy to swallow. You can even take it a step further and choose to describe the benefit of the benefit: “They never get stuck!” Include benefits or “benefits of benefits” in your supplement label design for powerful marketing messages.
According to multiple studies, people rely on emotions, rather than information, to make decisions. That is emotional responses to marketing actually influence a person’s decision to buy a product more than the actual content of its ads or marketing materials. (This is another reason why it makes more sense to focus on benefits rather than features.)
There are a couple of reasons why emotional marketing works. Humans are emotional beings and relate better to emotional brand messages. As a result, we also remember how brands, marketing, and ads make us feel better than we remember what the product actually is or does. We’re also more likely to share content which makes us feel something, which translates to more brand awareness and more sales.
At this point, you might be wondering how to add emotion to your supplement label design. Color, typography, and imagery can help you evoke an emotion (see above sections) but so can other marketing techniques. “Inspiring the impossible” is one of the best techniques to include in supplement label design in order to evoke emotion. The Red Bull Gives You Wings campaign is a great example of inspirational messaging that evokes a feeling – “I can do the impossible.”
9. Write for a third-grader
This is a copywriting trick that just about any brand could benefit from: Keep your language so simple that even a third-grader could understand. The technical term is plain English. It’s easy to assume that big words and complicated jargon could help your brand establish authority and demonstrate expertise, but the reality is big words and complex sentences will only confuse, frustrate, and offend your audience.
If you’re a supplement brand, for example, it’s safe to assume that most of your target audience doesn’t know many of the technical terms you would use to describe why your products work. So, in your supplement label design, skip the complicated jargon and get straight to the point.
If you do feel the need to explain more about how your products work, add a little booklet in your product box or send a description via email. Even via email or in the booklet, try to make these descriptions are simple as possible. Use small words, short sentences, few conjunctions, and a lot of transitions. Your audience will appreciate it.
10. Don’t go overboard
So far, we’ve talked a lot about creating a supplement label design that helps your brand stand out. While standing out is important, it’s also important not to go overboard on your design. You don’t want to include too much color, too many benefits, too much bold print, etc.
There are a couple of reasons why overdesigning is bad. First of all, too much talk diminishes the legitimacy of your product. If you add too many claims or benefits, consumers will start to wonder how many of them are actually true.
Secondly, too much design sends mixed brand messages. If you use all of the colors of the rainbow, for example, consumers won’t know what to feel.
And lastly, consumers don’t take the sum of benefits. Rather, they take the average. So, if one of your benefits is extremely powerful (let’s say a 10/10) and another one of your benefits is rather dull (a 2/10), consumers won’t rate your total benefits as a 12/10. Rather, they’ll rate you as a 6/10.
Bottom line? When it comes to supplement label design, less is often more.
11. Make it FDA compliant
This one is rather important. You must make sure your supplement labels are FDA compliant. The FDA has a long list of rules when it comes to supplement label design, including these five statements that must be included on your label:
The statement of identity (name of the dietary supplement)
The net quantity of contents statement (amount of the dietary supplement)
The nutrition labeling
The ingredient list
The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor
Please don’t mistake these five rules for the only rules. There are also rules regarding where to place each statement, font sizes, proper accepted wording, and more.
If you’re worried about facing penalties from the FDA, your best bet is to hire a supplement label designer or a supplement manufacturer that has also designed and produced successful labels. Professionals that work in the industry, especially supplement manufacturers, have experience with the FDA and know exactly what needs to go on your supplement label.
Last but not least is the question of your brand identity and unity. As a supplement brand, you may have many different kinds of products that appeal to slightly different target audiences. Maybe you focus on a wider variety of supplements like fitness supplements, beauty supplements, and brain health.
If so, you may be tempted to design each label differently to appeal to your various audiences. Don’t. It’s much more important for you to build brand awareness as a cohesive brand than to create supplement label designs for each of your target audiences. Instead, try to focus on what these different audiences might have in common and come up with one, unified idea about your audience. Not only will this help solidify your brand identity, but it will also lead to more sales per customer. At the end of the day, you want each member of your audience to buy multiple supplements from you, right?
That being said, you can modify the labels of different products slightly. The benefits you want to highlight for one product, for example, will likely be quite different than the benefits you want to highlight for another.
13. Work with a supplement manufacturer that also designs labels
In the competitive industry of dietary supplements, your supplement label design is extremely important. A great design can make your brand stand out from the rest. More importantly, the right design can help you appeal to your specific niche customer, ultimately leading to increased brand loyalty and sales. A poor design or a design that’s not FDA compliant, on the other hand, can mean serious trouble for your brand.
Generation Nutra has more than just experience designing labels for supplement brands. They also have an impressive track record of designing top-quality labels for some seriously successful companies.
Are you looking for a supplement manufacturer?
Here are some additional benefits of building your supplement brand with Generation Nutra:
Thousands of raw materials to choose from so you can create unique and personalized formulas.
Advice in terms of formulation.
Various packaging formats to choose from so you can customize your product.
A team of in-house graphic designers to help you design custom labels for your brand.
Advice and guidance to help you market and sell your product.
The supplement industry is a booming but competitive industry. If you’re a supplement brand or supplement manufacturer, each and every decision regarding how you formulate, create, market, and sell your products is important and should be well-thought-out, including your supplement packaging. Have you ever considered packaging your supplements with pill pouches?
Pill pouches are an up-and-coming trend in the supplement packaging industry and with good reason since they provide supplement brands with an easy way to personalize their products and services. But, personalization isn’t the only benefit of pill pouches for supplement brands and consumers. They’re also convenient, lead to more customer compliance, and provide great opportunities for branding and design.
Are you considering using pill pouches for your supplements? In this article, you’ll learn all about pill pouches, including the many advantages of pill pouches for supplement brands and consumers.
What are pill pouches?
Pill pouches are a type of pouch packaging that’s meant specifically for supplements in pill form (tablets, capsules, and softgels). Unlike traditional bottles, however, pill pouches aren’t usually meant to contain 30+ doses of the same supplement. Instead, pill pouches typically contain a small variety of daily vitamins. In fact, most pill pouches are only big enough to contain about 10 pills.
At this point, you may be wondering, what’s the point of pill pouch packaging? What makes pill pouches more attractive to supplement brands and consumers than traditional bottle packaging or blister packaging? The main reason has to do with the power of customization, but there are many additional benefits of pill pouch packaging.
Benefits of pill pouches
Customization is the main benefit of pill pouches for both brands and consumers, but there are plenty of other reasons why pill pouches are advantageous. They’re also more convenient, more effective, easier to travel with, lead to more consumer compliance, and create a smaller carbon footprint than other supplement packaging alternatives. Let’s take a look at these benefits in greater detail.
1. Customization
These days, customization is key, and the reason why is simple: Our economy is driven by customer experience. Consumers (whether or not they believe it or admit it) no longer favor certain brands or products because they’re more effective. That wouldn’t make much sense since modern technology has made it possible for many brands to create highly effective products.
Instead, these days, consumers favor certain brands for the overall experience they offer their customers. Consumers want to feel care for, understood, special, and important. Is there a better way to make consumers feel special than by customizing their products and their experience?
Pill pouches and vitamin packs offer supplement brands an effective way to customize their customers’ experience. New supplement brands like Personanutrition have begun to assess their customers’ needs with simple online questionnaires in order to offer them personalized vitamin packs filled with the exact supplements they need. The boxes even come with small booklets explaining the pills in their vitamin packs were chosen just for them. As far as supplements are concerned, it doesn’t get much more personal than that.
Most consumers need vitamins and supplements to fulfill a multitude of dietary and medical needs. A typical consumer might need supplements for gut health, healthier skin, extra energy, and a better memory. Ideally, this would be one simple pill, hence the origin of multivitamins.
But, one simple pill can only comprise so many ingredients. At some point, in order to reach x percentage of x ingredient, the manufacturer needs to reduce the percentage of other ingredients in the pill, but this means also reducing the effects of the other ingredients. So, to stick to the example mentioned above, more ingredients to help a healthy gut means fewer ingredients to improve memory. Furthermore, certain vitamins, minerals, and amino acids are chemically difficult to combine into one simple pill.
Daily vitamin packs allow supplement brands to supply their customers with all of the vitamins they need without making any sacrifices to squeeze all necessary ingredients into one magical pill. The result? Consumers may have to swallow extra pills, but all of their needs are met.
3. Design
Supplement label design is extremely important in the supplement industry. With so many options on the shelves, it’s really important that supplement brands find a way to stand out and maintain the interest of their target market.
Pill pouches, especially customized daily vitamin packs, provide brands with an amazing opportunity to create outstanding and unique label designs. Unlike with bottles, with daily vitamin packs, consumers open a brand new package each day. This means each day brings a new opportunity for brands to pleasantly surprise their consumers. Some ideas include daily inspirational quotes, days of the week printed on the vitamin packs, challenging questions for their consumers, and so on. Each time a consumer reaches for a new pill pouch, they also get a nice little design surprise.
The point is, competition in the supplement industry is fierce, and pill pouches provide brands with a way to impress their direct target consumers with design that speaks to them.
4. Convenience
For the modern consumer, convenience is absolutely essential. Companies like Apple, Amazon, and Google have spoiled consumers with convenience and enhanced usability so much so that, these days, consumers don’t just appreciate convenience; they demand it.
Convenience is another key benefit for consumers when it comes to pill pouches and daily vitamin packs. Traditional bottle packaging and blister packaging requires consumers who have multiple nutritional and dietary needs to open multiple bottles and/or blister packs each morning to access their supplements. Busy, hard-working parents, students, and professionals don’t have the time to open and close six pill bottles each morning, and if they do have the time, they certainly don’t want to spend it trying to access their daily vitamins.
Pill pouches provide consumers with an easy and convenient way to access all of their daily vitamins and supplements by opening just one small package. Not to mention, they’re also incredibly convenient for traveling long and short distances (across the country or from the house to the office). In short, they’re the new, convenient, grab-and-go option for busy consumers.
5. Compliance
Compliance (whether or not consumers continue to take their supplements as recommended) is another key element that all supplement brands should consider when choosing supplement packaging. Compliance not only means better results for consumers (and better reviews for brands), but it also means that consumers will finish their supplements faster and, hopefully, buy more.
Since vitamin packs are so convenient, they’re also a great way to help consumers stay compliant. As perfect grab-and-go options, consumers can’t say they didn’t have time to take their supplements. They also don’t have any excuses when it comes to travel. Consumers used to have to transport all of their supplement bottles with them while traveling. Five supplement bottles can take up a lot of space in a carry-on suitcase. With vitamin packs, consumers only have to take the exact amount of pills they plan to take.
The bottom line? Convenience leads to compliance, and compliance leads to more sales for supplement brands.
6. Smaller carbon footprint than other packaging alternatives
These days, consumers are more concerned than ever with the state of the planet. That means, whenever possible, they’re seeking sustainable product options to reduce their carbon footprint. If you’re not doing anything to reduce your brand’s carbon footprint, you’ll likely lose (or fail to attract) many valuable customers.
Since pill pouches take up such little space in landfills, they have a much smaller carbon footprint than other packaging alternatives like bulky jars and bottles. They also require much less material to produce than many other competing options, which reduces waste, manufacturing costs, and the product’s overall carbon footprint.
Last but not least, as sustainability becomes more and more important to both producers and consumers, many brands are turning to materials other than plastic to package their products. Other materials, however, can be much more expensive to manufacture and produce than traditional plastic. Pouch packaging is a good way to meet in the middle. It’s more sustainable than traditional, bulky, plastic canisters, and it’s cheaper than alternatives like glass, metal, and cardboard.
Disadvantages
As far as disadvantages go, there aren’t too many disadvantages to pill pouches. In fact, there are only three notable disadvantages:
Vitamin packs usually contain a lot of pills to swallow. If your consumers dislike swallowing pills (or are simply unable to do so), it’s safe to say that pill pouches are not the best option.
Vitamin packs are usually more costly for consumers. For consumers on a budget, buying multivitamins or buying a select few daily supplements (rather than five or six bottles) can be cheaper than buying vitamin packs. If your target market has a tight budget, pill pouches may not be the best option for your brand.
If you want to customize your vitamin packs like Persona Nutrition or Care/of, you’re going to have to put in some work. These companies don’t just develop and analyze tests to provide their consumers with the perfect mix of daily vitamins, they also offer chat support and personalized guidance to explain why they’ve chosen certain supplements and ingredients for their customers.
Your supplement manufacturer can help you with packaging
There is a lot to keep in mind when choosing packaging for your supplements, but with a little help, choosing packaging can be a fun and exciting process!
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re choosing the right packaging for your supplements is by choosing a supplement manufacturer that also handles your packaging and design. That way, you can get tips and advice from experts who not only understand packaging options but also understand the industry, your exact product, and the needs of your customers.
Generation Nutra offers many kinds of packaging options, including pill pouch packaging. Here are some additional benefits of building your supplement brand with Generation Nutra:
Thousands of raw materials to choose from so you can create unique and personalized formulas.
The supplement industry is a booming but competitive industry. If you’re a supplement brand or supplement manufacturer, each and every decision regarding how you formulate, create, market, and sell your products is important and should be well-thought-out, including your supplement packaging. These days, pouch packaging is one of the most effective and popular options for supplement packaging.
Pouch packaging comes with many advantages for supplement brands and very few disadvantages. For starters, there is a wide variety of pouch options available for different kinds of products and different kinds of consumers. This makes it easy to tailor your packaging directly to your target market. Pouch packaging is also more environmentally friendly and cheaper than many other packaging options, which makes it a very attractive option for many supplement brands.
Are you interested in learning more about pouch packaging for your supplements? In this article, you’ll learn all about pouches. You’ll learn what they are and about the many different types of pouches available for supplements. You’ll also learn about some of the greatest advantages and disadvantages of using this type of supplement packaging so that you can decide whether or not it’s a good option for your target market.
What is pouch packaging?
Pouch packaging is a type of packaging for food or supplements that resembles a bag. The difference between pouch packaging and a traditional bag is that pouches are made from materials that are designed to keep the products inside safe from any external factors that could damage them, including light, heat, moisture, and odors. Pouches are also made to be more durable and resistant to punctures than traditional bags.
Most pouch packaging manufacturers achieve this high level of protection and durability by laminating together multiple layers of film that offer different kinds of protection. Metalized film in a laminated structure, for example, can significantly enhance protection from vapor and humidity. Nylon, on the other hand, is a good material to protect contents from oxygen and also helps make a pouch stronger and more durable. The best pouch manufacturers laminate multiple layers of film together to create a strong and effective material.
Pouch packaging is a rising trend. The pouch packaging market was valued at USD 18.03 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach a value of USD 22.65 billion by 2025. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.66% from 2020-2025. According to numbers generated by a Harris Poll, 83 % of all brand owners currently use flexible packaging of some type. [1]
But, why is pouch packaging such a booming industry? What makes pouch packaging the new preferred packaging type for manufacturers and consumers? Here are some of the greatest advantages of pouch packaging:
1. Smaller carbon footprint than other plastic containers
First and foremost, pouches take up much less space in a landfill than a bulky plastic container, which makes it a much more sustainable option. Secondly, pouches require much less material to produce than many other competing options. This reduces waste, manufacturing costs, and the product’s overall carbon footprint.
One of the greatest advantages of pouch packaging for consumers is that it’s easy to travel with. Unlike bulky canisters and containers that are heavy and take up a lot of room in a suitcase, pouches are flexible, lightweight, and take up very little space. If your supplements require a strict regimen (one serving a day, for example), you should consider supplement packaging options that are easy to transport, so your consumers can take their supplements with them wherever they go.
4. Cheaper than alternatives like glass, metal, and cardboard containers
Last but not least, as sustainability becomes more and more important to both producers and consumers, many brands are turning to materials other than plastic to package their products. Other materials, however, can be much more expensive to manufacture and produce than traditional plastic. Pouch packaging is a good way to meet in the middle. It’s more sustainable than traditional, bulky, plastic canisters, and it’s cheaper than alternatives like glass, metal, and cardboard.
Biggest disadvantages
There’s only really one major disadvantage to pouch packaging: It’s not as durable as other packaging options. That being said, many packaging manufacturers create their own pouch materials by laminating together multiple layers of film that offer different kinds of protection.
There are many types of pouches you can choose for your supplements. There are single serving pouches and multi-serving pouches. There are pouches that stand up and pouches that don’t. There are transparent pouches and opaque pouches. There are resealable pouches and non-resealable pouches. The list goes on and on.
The important thing to keep in mind is that pouch options are not mutually exclusive. That is to say, you can combine the many types below to create the perfect pouch for your products and the special needs of your target market. Let’s take a look at some of the many pouch options you can choose for your supplements.
Single-dose pouch packaging
Offering single-dose options to your customers is a great way to allow them to try your product without having to buy an entire bottle, box, or container. It’s also a great way to give out free samples, showcasing any new products you’ve recently formulated to your existing customers.
Pouch packaging is one of the best options for single doses. Stick packs are ideal for single servings of powders, and small, flat, pill pouches are perfect for single-serving vitamin samples. Single-dose pouches offer a great way to provide customized daily vitamins in the form of capsules, tablets, and pills to your customers. These customized daily vitamin packs are a fresh, new trend in the supplement industry.
Multiple-dose pouch packaging
Multiple-dose pouch packaging is perfect for consumers who regularly take supplements in the form of powders. It’s more sustainable than bulky containers, as it takes up less room in landfills, and it’s also great for consumers who travel frequently since it takes up less room in a suitcase.
Stand-up pouch packaging
If you’d rather use pouches than containers for your multiple-dose powder supplements, stand-up pouches are your best option. Stand-up pouch packaging makes it easier for retailers to showcase and sell your products and for consumers to safely store your products on their shelves at home. It’s also more convenient to work with as it’s easier for consumers to scoop from a stand-up package than a flat package.
Most stand-up pouch packaging is gusseted packaging. Gusset packaging includes extra material on the sides or bottom of the pouch so that the pouch can expand and stand upright.
Easy-open pouch packaging
How consumers will open your pouch is another key detail to keep in mind. There are a couple of different easy-open options. You can use a pouch with two divots on each side indicating that the package can be opened by tearing from one side to the other. Another option is to perforate the top of the bag, making it extra easy for consumers to open. A third option, and a slightly more difficult option for consumers, is to seal the pouch in the middle and have consumers open by pulling at each side.
Resealable plastic pouch packaging
If you’re serving multiple doses in pouches, you’ll have to make sure the package is resealable. The most common option is to include a zipper, which can be a press-to-close zipper or a slide-to-close zipper. Slide-to-close zippers are slightly easier for consumers to work with, and they’re also more secure. With press zippers, it’s easy to miss some spots and leave the bag slightly open. With slide zippers, this scenario is almost impossible.
Transparent vs opaque pouch packaging
Another decision you’ll have to make is whether you prefer transparent or opaque packaging; each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Transparent packaging is great for pill pouches as many consumers like to see the shape and size of the pills they’ll be swallowing. Transparent packaging, however, allows much less room for design and marketing messages.
Conclusions: Choosing pouch packaging
There is a lot to keep in mind when choosing packaging for your supplements, but with a little help, choosing supplement packaging can be a fun and exciting process!
One of the best ways to ensure that you’re choosing the right packaging for your supplements is by choosing a supplement manufacturer that also handles your packaging and design. That way, you can get tips and advice from experts who not only understand packaging options but also understand the industry, your exact product, and the needs of your customers.
Generation Nutra offers many kinds of packaging options, including pouch packaging. Here are some additional benefits of building your supplement brand with Generation Nutra:
Thousands of raw materials to choose from so you can create unique and personalized formulas.
