I
t seems simple: Take the specialty blends you brew on a daily basis and package them for your customers to enjoy in the
comfort of their own homes. An easy sell, right? But there is a potentially huge chasm between selling your unique cup of hot coff ee and selling that same coff ee in a bag on your store shelf. Th oughtful packaging and design can bridge the divide. Design considerations may or may not be your forte, but
they will most assuredly aff ect your bottom line. To maximize the look of your product and create the overall mood and brand image that seals more sales, retailers should seriously consider enlisting the services of professional design, packaging and branding experts. Even for relatively modest coff ee bag projects, crisp, well-executed logos and artwork are essential. “Many small roasters are reluctant to use outside services for
graphics design because of cost,” says Mike Mead, marketing guru for coff ee bag printing specialists Roastar (Roastar.com). “Th is, in our opinion, is a mistake. When selling in a retail environment, many times the fi rst experience that a customer has with a coff ee brand comes via the packaging. It doesn’t matter how good the coff ee is, if the packaging doesn’t refl ect the quality of its contents, the roaster is selling his or her product short.” While most graphic design services can cost from $50 to
$125 per hour, investing in an experienced graphic designer can ultimately save time and cost in the long run.
“If the business owner has taken some classes on graphics
design, they might be able to get along creating their own labels,” says Jon Paden, head of technical sales at VIPColor Technologies (VIPColor.com). “What we have found out, though, is if you want that true feel of a professional label, going to a graphics designer is usually best. Th ey tend to know the tools needed to create certain looks that catch the consumer’s eye.” Some bag printers also off er full-service graphic and bag
design services as part of their product off erings. Th is includes Roastar, which specializes solely in custom-printed coff ee bags with a minimum order of only 100 bags. Packaging maven Pacifi c Bag Inc. (Pacifi cBag.com), which
works with more than 3,000 roasters in more than 40 countries, also off ers design services from concept to production-ready art through the skills of a full-time graphic designer ready to help customers through every step of the design process.
DIVINE DESIGN Once you have lined up design experts to help you create
the best bags for your business, the actual mechanics of design come into play, along with a dizzying array of minor decisions that will add up to a major design accomplishment. What colors will you choose? What bag materials are best? What fonts best convey your brand?
above: Color-coding, combined with common typefaces and other design elements, can create an identity for a coffee line and enable customers to find their favorites quickly. Photos courtesy of VIPColor
26 | August 2011 • www.specialty-coffee.com
BAGS that BRAG
Take your retail bags to the next level with sharp designs that catch the customer’s eye.
BY CAROLINE RATH
