The cake business rests on the backbone of flavor and taste. Yet, packaging them as a sales and marketing strategy plays a crucial role in determining whether your business will break or make it in the cake and pastry industry. Good cake packaging is considered not just as a competitive advantage, but rather a competitive necessity. This is the reason why cake packaging means a lot more than simply placing cakes and pastries in regular corrugated boxes and handing them out to customers. The factors of style, colors, and design of packaging boxes are crucial factors that can spell increased sales for your cake business.
There are a variety of cake packaging materials available on the market today. There is a wide array of cake packaging and cake boxes to choose from and a business owner should explore and learn about each and every one of them before making a purchasing decision. One should not only focus on the goal of getting increased sales by choosing these packaging materials. The importance of paying attention to functionality should also play a major factor when choosing a cake packaging to represent your business.
Below is a general overview of occasions that require special cake packaging and tips for cake business owners on how to approach them.
Packaging Cakes for Increased Sales
Winton Cake Caddy
When using packaging to increase your sales, you initially have to consider the market where you are selling your goods. It is advisable to consider the color preferences, lifestyle, and health awareness status of your target market before coming up with the right packaging. For instance, when you are marketing low-sugar or low-calorie cakes, then you can use health-conscious labels that are easy to be spotted by consumers. Apart from special labels, you may also want to add your business contact information label so customers, or anyone who has been given your box of pastries will know how and where to contact you for their next orders.
Moreover, packaging cakes in order to achieve increased sales will require customized boxes or other types of packaging materials. The cake packaging’s color and style are very important and should be seriously planned out. So it is intelligent to get a professional graphic designer to conceptualize for your cake packaging. It is also good to consider the color and style that will match your target market’s lifestyle or preferences.
The finishing touches of a cake packaging may also help boost your sales. Ribbons are very common and they can be used also as a handle for a cake box too!
Packaging Cakes for Storage
Golda 8 x 8 x 4 window cake box in pink
Keeping your cakes or pastries as freshly baked as possible is a challenge when exploring possible packaging materials for storage. Transparent airtight containers are not only good to use for storage, but are great to use as final packaging for iced cakes or pastries as well.
If you are selling your cakes in packaging that doubles for storage, think of what customers might do with your cake after storage? Are you cakes or pastry best eaten hot? If so, then popping it into the microwave might be what a client would do after storage. You should then also consider using microwavable containers or at least, easy-to-open ones so placing cakes in the microwave are convenient.
Packaging Cakes for Transport
A plain brown cardboard 10 x 10 x 5 cake box produced by Smyrna Corp
Cakes make for great gifts, and yet it is a challenge to package something as delicate as cakes and pastries for transport. When the cake is not packaged properly, it may reach the recipient in crumbs and, even worse, spoiled. Wedding cakes are most difficult to transport considering there are cakes that are tiered in nature. Yet, although bare of any external packaging materials, they can be successfully transported with sturdy cake bases and good dowel support system. Other than wedding cakes, packaging cakes and pastries requires just a little more detail.
The first factor to consider when packaging cakes for transport is how the materials will fare at keeping the cake in place. Boxes or similar materials should be just large enough to fit a cake to keep it place. You should also not be afraid of packing more than one cake or pastry in a box if that would lessen the possibility of crumbling. Multi-compartment containers can come in handy with cup cakes or mini cakes. When small spaces are still present, packing peanuts can come in handy.
Another thing to consider is how to keep a cake being packaged to avoid or prevent spoilage. Airtight containers or cling wraps supported with a top layer of tin foil are perfect for wrapping, but you should also keep in mind to only package cakes for transport that does not perish immediately under room temperature.
A business owner should indicate the package’s “stackability.” This means the strength of boxes in terms of stacking on top of each. Placing your packages in carrier bags is also an option for easier handling. It is also good to mark a package with the words perishable and fragile so you will not worry on how the courier will handle your cake package.
Packaging Cakes for Special Seasons
A collapsible cake carrier made by Progressive
Packaging cakes for a special season can be less daunting than packaging for a marketing strategy to increase sales, if not more fun. You also need not customize your packaging materials since a variety of themed/decorated cake containers, packaging boxes, paper cups, and other packaging materials come off the shelf.
What you need to do is match a customer’s preferences to the packaging. For example, cartoon themed cupcake baking cups will be great for a children’s party while transparent little airtight cupcake containers will be best for wedding treats. There is a lot to explore in this category, including occasion-themed cake packaging such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas, New Year, anniversaries, baby showers, christening, and a lot more.