September 22, 2025 – At a time when trust in brands has eroded gradually, the fine lines that make a product resonate with consumers have become thin. As transparency becomes ever more important and the basis of purchasing decisions clearer, packaging has a huge bearing on whether or not shoppers can identify with a brand’s story. This report by Innova Market Insights explores how food and beverage brands can employ specific features of product packaging to forge a meaningful connection with the consumer, and how packaging designs can go about inspiring a sense of fun and adventure.
What Opportunities Exist to Build Trust with Consumers?
Transparency has never been more significant, with research finding that 31% of consumers globally seeking honesty and transparency when choosing food and beverage brands, and 47% of them want company values clearly displayed.
Being authentic is the new cool, and brands that do not communicate this effectively risk losing touch with shoppers. To define this authenticity a little further, consider that beyond detailed information of a product’s value chain, many people have or are beginning to ask more questions of the food and beverages they consume. Meaning that ingredient sourcing and even price changes are affecting decision making. If ingredients are removed or replaced and the prices increases, consumers want to know why and may be more understanding of the inflation associated with composition changes and price hikes.
A brand’s core values are normally rooted in the eating experience and that is where taste and experience come into play. If ethics and sustainability become the sole focus of packaging narratives, then this can be risky. Innova Market Insights observed that 48% of consumers globally prefer buying products that have the brand or origin story on the packaging and in such cases, ingredient origin or the preparation methods deserves the full spotlight.
What Information Matters on Packaging?
Many types of food packages have strict rules about what information must be included. This includes nutritional facts, ingredient lists, preparation instructions, product images, and expiration dates. Leaving little space left for storytelling. Yet, with mages, they often have a stronger impact because shoppers can understand them quickly. This is also true for important ingredients or in the case where images help show how wholesome a product is, which is especially important for plant-based items. While visuals that highlight a brand’s character can enhance storytelling, they also have a place in promotional campaigns to build brand identity over time.
Can Digital Content Supercharge Brand Identity?
In-depth information on how a product fits into a healthy diet and the ability to trace ingredients back to a farm or warehouse has a considerable influence on brand identity. Just as much as the recipe and product usage suggestions that allow brands a way to engage with shoppers and can create a sense of loyalty. While all of this information on the package is necessary, digital technology is becoming commonplace in the industry. Although to keep on trend, it is indispensable to bear in mind that any digital content must be supported with enticing imagery on-pack to get consumers to engage with it in the first place.
Is Consumer Trust in Big Brands Declining?
Innova Market Insights asked consumers about the sort of information they thought was important to appear on product packaging. The results showed that storytelling made it into the top 12. Yet, it was displaced by other types of information that respondents considered far more significant, such as nutritional content, use-by dates, and health claims.
As has been evident in any other category right now, consumers want products that align with their goals and diets, which can extend to brands, not just individual items. If someone has a dietary choice or need, the values of the product have to be in line with what makes them feel good. Fueled by growing concerns about greenwashing and social washing, honesty and transparency in ingredients sourcing were top of mind for global research respondents. This is evident in data from this report that showed support for social or ethical causes, and local producers were key issues close to consumers’ hearts.
Consequently, trust in main players within the industry has fallen as this report found that about a quarter of those studied reported feeling less trust in large global brands compared to the previous year. While smaller local brands seem to be less affected. Significant concerns revolve around the belief that profits are being prioritized over people and the planet. A significant number of consumers are also expressing doubts about product quality and health claims.
What Inspires Consumer Confidence in a Brand’s Packaging?
For those who are active online shoppers, it is normal to feel confident with a purchase if it has a high review score. If you take a look at the star-styled review system, it would be easy to assume that anything less than four out of five would be less than convincing. In this report, respondents answered with the same degree of sentiment for reviews. Many said that regarding products with three or four stars out of five, these would have necessitated closer research before buying.
These tendencies can differ from country to country. If you look at the results from the Indian consumer perspective, for example, many consistently rated product packaging information’s trustworthiness around the four-star point, while their German counterparts’ ratings were closer to a “trust sometimes” around the three-star mark. In the interest of transparency, on which much of this report is focused, it should be noted that none of the countries researched had a strict five-star review mark threshold.
Does Design Have an Impact on Packaging?
Innova Market Insights asked consumers which design styles made food and beverage products most attractive to them, and there was a strong tendency toward back-to-basics packaging reflecting current packaging trends. In fact, a third preferred a natural, minimalistic look, and a quarter of those researched felt drawn to the handcrafted aesthetic and vintage optics of certain packaging. Further to this point, just over half of respondents preferred a two-color design, highlighting the overwhelming preference for clean, non-fussy packaging. Although when it came to the element of storytelling within packaging, almost a fifth of respondents leaned toward cartoon-style imagery, which leaves it open to being a real opportunity.
Do Consumers Use Connective Technologies to Get More Info?
Connected packaging technology is becoming prominent on product packaging, reflecting current packaging trends. From QR codes to smart labels and even augmented reality features, there are a multitude of ways that further information can be found about brands, competitions and brand identity on the labels of various packaging. The findings of this report noted that close to 40% of consumers either never or rarely engage with these interconnected features, even if a quarter of them do in some way or another. There is, however, potential in this area for manufacturers to share their stories and values and for consumers who want to trace ingredients and understand the people behind the product.
What’s Next for the Role of Packaging in Brand Identity and Storytelling?
Looking at the future of packaging in brand identity and storytelling, findings from this report suggest that on-pack text and images related to digital content pose an opportunity to create a compelling narrative that encourages consumers to learn more. Although it requires further development with digital content needing to align with brand values to create trust. Character-driven visuals will play a significant role in product storytelling, alongside promotional campaigns that allow the character to develop over time and reveal new aspects of the brand’s identity.
As consumers increasingly prefer minimalistic packaging designs, effective storytelling in both textual and visual forms will be essential for product differentiation, and the same goes for products in the premium market. A strong emphasis should be placed on transparency, which provides consumers with deeper insights into a product’s value chain and changes in ingredient sourcing, which are likely to emerge as a bold trust-building strategy, facilitated by on-pack connective technologies.
This article is based on Innova’s The Role of Packaging in Brand Identity & Storytelling – Global report. This report is available to purchase or with an Innova Reports subscription. Reach out to find out more