Compact packages mean more SKUs on shelves. That, in turn, means fewer stock outs and less time spent restocking.

The “going green” groundswell is likely to gain momentum in 2009 and beyond, partly due to the cost savings offered by reduced, greener packaging.

Rebranding unifies and promotes IGA’s store brands through consistent graphic design on all packages. IGA has just revamped the look of its private labels, and the voluntary supermarket network has

A tremendous outburst of creativity in packaging has happened over the last several years. Retailers, their supplier partners and, especially, packaging companies should take advantage of the many innovations that not only improve product usage but also make them more salable. However, everyone in the supply chain should be careful to obey the disciplines imposed by the shelf environment as they enjoy the fruits of the designers’ inventiveness.

Icons or symbols have become vital components of labeling, particularly when they pertain to health claims, and they are currently becoming the focus of a great deal of debate, as well as activity, that may well lead to some important changes.

If you’re a manufacturer and you bring a product to a retail buyer in an oversized package that doesn’t fit the shelf, well…expect grief. In an era based on category management discipline, retailers are no longer so tolerant of odd sizes that can’t be easily put on the shelf.

For retail buyers and category managers, the packaging of a new product is one of many factors that have to be considered, but one that has special meaning: It’s the attribute that projects the product’s message. And if it doesn’t do that effectively, the product probably won’t fly.

IGA USA (Independent Grocers Alliance)-the world’s largest voluntary supermarket network with aggregate worldwide retail sales of more than $21 billion per year-provides its retailers with an extensive and sophisticated private-label program. And the labels are a major component of its branding process. What’s interesting is that the organization’s label designers, under the direction of Dave Bennett, IGA senior vice president of procurement and private brands, are rigorously applying three straightforward criteria to make this label program pack the punch it needs.

Sustainability is steadily gaining the attention of American consumers as media coverage of resource conservation increases, and concern deepens on environmental issues.