Benefits of Wholesale Packaging for Your Packaged Edibles

The consumer market is evolving fast. You can keep your business abreast with these changes by altering your target consumer category. Edibles have a faster turnover than other consumer goods like clothing. That’s why the processed food industry has adopted wholesale packaging to deliver its products more efficiently.

The term wholesale means selling a product in larger packs. Often, these packages are ordered in bulk and can leverage cost-saving benefits for both the supplier and purchaser of the goods.

Innovation in case packing systems, more logistical options, and faster processing speed have facilitated this change. Artificial intelligence and Automation have made it easier to predict expected product demand and enabled companies to fulfill that demand through wholesale packaging. 

Not all food products make a good fit for wholesale packages, but most do.

Retail Versus Wholesale: What’s the Consumer’s Preference?

It’s easier to order wholesale when you don’t have to do the heavy lifting. Wholesale giants like Amazon, Costco, and Alibaba have revolutionized wholesale packaging globally. Wholesale superstore Costco is currently the sixth most valuable retailer internationally. They have made it easier for the average home consumer to stock up on their favorite edibles via wholesale ordering.

Gone are the days when only large companies purchased their goods and supplies in bulk. Now, even the average consumer realizes the benefit of ordering in bulk online and saving that much time and energy in going to the store, loading up their cart, and checking out. 

Although most consumers still prefer retail packaging, the numbers are also growing for wholesale packaging. The recent Covid-19 pandemic and empty supermarket shelves have made the decision easier for many consumers. That, coupled with today's busy lifestyles, means buying essentials wholesale is one less thing to worry about.

Another benefit is the predictability of having essential supplies stowed away in your warehouse or pantry. Few things are more annoying than having your favorite eggnog mix sold out right in the middle of the holiday season.

Innovation in processing has prolonged shelf life for edibles as well. Now, it’s easier for companies and home consumers to stock up on necessary goods without worrying about expiration dates.

Modern-day case packing systems are more proficient at packaging these wholesale boxes, meaning even longer storage ability of your products.

Here are some Industries that usually purchase edibles in wholesale cases:

• Hospitals
• Cafeteria
• Schools
• Restaurants
• Online Re-sellers
• Hotels and buffets
• Charities and food banks
• Food-related start-ups and smaller businesses

Benefits of Wholesale Packaging for Businesses

After reviewing how consumers benefit from purchasing in bulk, let’s have a look at what advantages wholesale packaging leverages for your brand.

Saves Time

Retail packaging means individually wrapping each product. Take canned beans, for example. With retail packaging, you will have to offer a diverse variety of sizes for the supermarket shelves, such as small [6once], standard [12ounces], and large [15 ounces]. These cans will then have to package in trays of 6 or 12.

When packaging in bulk, each can will be larger. Your case packing system will load more cans on each tray as well. Meaning less time spent on primary and secondary packaging.

Another way you save time is that you can focus on select products with bulk packaging. Your supply chain and assembly lines run smoother when there are fewer products to process and package. 

Automated machines like case packing systems and tray loaders need to be calibrated less often. There is less time wasted switching out packaging materials and settings as well.

Conserves Resources

Packaging is expensive. With retail packaging, each unit needs secondary and primary packaging. Each packaging layer needs to be printed with customized labels, batch codes, and expiration dates. That makes single units cost more in packaging than wholesale cases.

Transportation is another area you can conserve resources on with the help of wholesale packaging. Which is excellent news considering the recent global fuel price hikes. More can be transported in less with bulk packaging.

The profit margins that wholesale packaging of perishables leverages for your company are impressive.

Additional Safety

Wholesalers ship directly from their factories to the end consumers. Cutting the time perishables spend in transit and the number of people handling the products. Smart case packing systems and automation further reduce the need for human involvement during food processing. 

With bulk packaging, you can deliver a higher quality product faster. The compounding effect of that is a safer product for your customer.

It's eco-friendly

Packaging waste has been a primary concern for consumers worldwide. Wholesale packs cut down on packaging material significantly. More products can be accommodated in a single pack, and more packs can be packed together using case packing systems. And more cases can be stacked, stored, and shipped at once. 

Also, bigger packs mean saving energy while erecting boxes, shrink wrapping, sealing, and stocking individual packs. Reducing the carbon footprint produced during food packaging and processing. Big box retailers such as Costco also use the same trays used for packaging to display the products. 

Cutting down on the labor required to stack shelves and resources to displaying bulk units.

It's Completely Customizable

Just like single retail units, wholesale packs can be customized to suit the needs of your end consumer. If a hospital requires larger than usual packages of Italian beef sausages. Done. Does the school cafeteria need bulk-sized orange juice crates that can fit their dispensers? No problem!

The robotic case packing systems can easily customize primary and secondary packaging. Allowing you to cater to the demands of your bulk buyers easily.

Switch to Bulk Packaging Today

At BluePrint Automation, we believe in smart packaging and casing solutions, whether retail or wholesale. 

Check out our extensive range of fully customizable case packing systems. Or give us a call today to see how we can help you make the switch to wholesale packaging and accelerate your business today.