Key takeaways
- Your chocolate drink packaging design should incorporate high-barrier materials to preserve the productβs freshness.
- Use eye-catching colours and clean typography to clearly display your drinking chocolateβs details and your identity.
- Sustainable material choices help you align with ongoing consumer demands for eco-friendly products.
While coffee and tea have often been the most popular hot drinks, the landscape is shifting in favour of drinking chocolate and cocoa. They provide a caffeine-free alternative to traditional hot drinks, making them increasingly popular with young consumers. This rise also means more competition β so your chocolate drink packaging design is more important than ever.
Your product designs can help your drinking chocolate stand out on retail shelves and win mindshare with customers. For maximum impact, you need formats that are visually appealing, protective, and align with consumer expectations. Taking these into account, your chocolate drink packaging design can function as a marketing tool that keeps you relevant and attracts new customers.
To learn more about the importance of chocolate drink packaging design, I spoke to Joel Noble. He is the Director of Nib and Noble, an Australian company that sells drinking chocolate, chai powder, and granola. Read on for his insight.
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#1. Choose high-barrier materials
Your chocolate drink packaging design should incorporate materials that protect the powder from air, light, moisture, and temperature fluctuations. Otherwise, these factors can compromise your productβs sensory qualities, texture, and appearance.
Often, you can choose formats similar to those used for roasted coffee, like flexible multilayer pouches. However, your drinking chocolate packaging doesnβt need an additional degassing valve, since cocoa beans donβt release carbon dioxide after harvest.
βHistorically, weβve always looked at high-barrier metallic or foil-lined packaging to ensure the long-lasting life of our products,β Joel explains. βWe choose a flat-bottom bag for our bulk offerings as we find this offers a stronger structure and aesthetics.β
Multi-layered packaging provides the optimal protection for drinking chocolate. Common materials include low-density polyethylene (LDPE), kraft paper, or rice paper. Combined with linings such as aluminium foil or polylactic acid (PLA), these formats maintain flavour and freshness but also make the bags more secure. Therefore, you can balance protection with shelf stability and custom branding.
βWe find that the freshness retained in the bag from high-barrier packaging allows the sugar in our drinking chocolate not to draw in much moisture,β Joel adds. βThe product then stays fresher for longer and retains its great taste.β
Alongside flexible packaging formats like bags, aluminium tins have worked just as well for Nib and Noble. Tins are often associated with a premium presentation while offering excellent protection from external elements. Other alternatives for drinking chocolate packaging include resealable plastic containers or glass jars, provided they are stored in a cool, dark place.
Design your own drinking chocolate packaging
#2. Customise your chocolate drink packaging design
Customisation is an essential element of your chocolate drink packaging design. For maximum impact, you should choose bright colours and clear textual features that communicate your productβs quality.
Packaging design also has a big impact on consumer psychology. When browsing retail shelves, 70% of shoppers judge a product by its packaging design. As such, your visual appearance can help attract customers and stand out on retail shelves.
βAside from regulatory information, we heavily focus on design to ensure our packaging relays the brand and portrays the feel and vision we have for Nib and Noble,β Joel explains.
In particular, the most influential visual elements are colours, logos, layout, and typography β all of which shape purchase decisions. Different colours, for instance, evoke different perceptions of a product and have a strong influence on customer preferences.
βLight-toned colours and matte finishes, coupled with the design, help complete the brand’s story and beliefs in a wholesome, organic and playful product,β Joel explains. It illustrates how Nib and Noble has capitalised on colour and art in the design of its drinking chocolate bags and tins.
Both formats feature pencil-drawn graphics of spoons, cocoa beans, and individual nibs. βSimple and effective design can make all the difference to engage customers,β he explains. The logo, a simple cocoa pod alongside the companyβs name, blends easily with the hand-drawn artwork. The rest of the information on the packaging is mostly about the flavour, sensory tones, certification, and labelling.
These visual elements create a compelling identity that captures the companyβs essence at a glance. For any cocoa brand, your drinking chocolate packaging design should not only convey a sense of quality but also stay true to your values.
If your identity centres on transparency, creativity, or conscious indulgence, these qualities should be reflected in your chocolate drink packaging design. βBe direct, clear, and precise in your messaging for customers to understand the product quickly. Sometimes less is more,β Joel recommends.
#3. Consider whether your chocolate drink packaging design is sustainable
Alongside visual elements, your chocolate drink packaging design needs to be sustainable to appeal to modern consumers. Consider easily recyclable materials and low-impact customisation methods to win mindshare and convey your environmental commitment.
No matter the product, shoppers around the world are placing more importance than ever on eco-friendly packaging. In Europe, it’s 61% of consumers, while in the US, 78% admit that the environmental impact of a product matters to them.
Drinking chocolate is no exception, and Joel has observed these developments in recent years. βWeβre seeing some great advancements in eco-friendly packaging with the use of recycled and biodegradable packaging,β he says.
For your chocolate drink packaging design, you can choose compostable or biodegradable materials for bags, like kraft or rice paper. These materials can be lined with easy-to-recycle linings such as PLA. Materials like LDPE can also be recycled in industrial streams, preserving freshness while providing a sustainable packaging solution.
However, itβs just as important to consider customisation. Choosing water-based inks and digital printing technology can reduce waste and emissions, aligning with your wider environmental goals. You can also use this to include disposal instructions or recycling symbols, helping consumers dispose of the packaging properly.
These eco-friendly developments for chocolate drink packaging design are likely to continue, Joel believes. βItβs definitely a space to watch closely,β he says. βWeβll do what we can to adapt to these changes.β
Packaging suppliers like MTPak Coffee offer drinking chocolate packaging that meets all of your needs. We use high-barrier and eco-friendly materials like kraft paper, LDPE, and PLA to preserve flavour and protect your products against damage throughout handling and use.
We also offer premium formats like customisable tins made from premium, reusable aluminium to convey your commitment to quality. To make your packaging truly stand out, we offer a wide range of finishes, from embossing and foil stamping to holographic effects, tailored to your identity.
Contact the MTPak Coffee team to learn more about our chocolate drink packaging solutions.
FAQ
Which materials are the best for drinking chocolate packaging?
For flexible pouches, you should choose high-barrier materials like LDPE, kraft paper, or PLA. For premium formats, aluminium tins are also suitable.
Which colours and visuals work best for chocolate drink packaging design?
You can choose warm, beige tones that communicate your drinking chocolateβs natural qualities. Also, adding drawings of cocoa beans and related designs contributes to a personable, homemade feel.
How can companies make drinking chocolate packaging more sustainable?
By choosing easily recyclable or compostable materials, you can minimise landfill waste from your packaging. Also, consider low-impact customisation methods and add clear disposal instructions to educate consumers.
