In food and beverage packaging, function often takes a back seat to form. Take a recent sales promotion at Safeway Inc.'s Dominick's supermarkets in metropolitan Chicago: on one page, the flyer featured a gallon of milk in an unglamorous high-density, polyethylene plastic jug for $2.50, available in chocolate and all fat levels of white. On the next page, a single-serve PET container with one-eighth as much product was promoted for $1. For three days, not seven. In white, only.
If sizzle outsells steak, why invest in high-performance containers when eye-catching graphics or a funky new shape moves product?