If you operate a food production company, you may have the general sense that adding certain descriptive words to your packages can lead to better sales. But what are these specific words, and how much will they actually help sales?
The Washington Post recently featured an article on a Nielsen study that looked at the frequency of some of the "marquee" claims of food labels. These include well-worn adjectives like "fortified," "no MSG," and "hormone and antibiotic free."
At the top of the list? Foods and beverages that display their fat content, which account for $64 billion in sales. The next most successful descriptor, by contrast, is the word "natural," which infamously has no real meaning established by the government or the FDA. And yet it manages to elicit $40.7 billion, far more than terms that have concrete definitions.
Though it seems to have a steady foothold in the world of food labeling, "natural" doesn't appear to be growing in use nearly as much as some of its counterparts, including words like "organic." Nielsen found that term to be growing by 11 percent every year, and "low-glycemic" increasing by as much as 30.
Knowing the way that these kinds of definitions can be perceived and shape the way that a company's products might fly off of the shelves under certain conditions can be an advantage to your business.
Whether you decide to employ one of these descriptors or not, label printers can be a valuable way to control the words and imagery that are associated with your goods. There's nothing worse than having a great idea and not being able to successfully implement it.
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