Tamper Evidence Trends: The Features You Care About

Imagine standing at the grocery counter, not knowing who has touched the food you are about to take to the checkout. You look to see if you can tell if it is safe and protected, but it’s not tamper evident. Would you still buy it? The answer for you, and most of your consumers, is likely “no.” In a post-lockdown world, consumers have become even more aware of food safety.

The trend toward more packaging being tamper evident, like our 12.1 ounce rectangular salad clamshells, is not new. However, the heightened sense of awareness of food quality and safety is. Consumers want to see every angle of their products but also want to know that touchpoints are limited, and that packaging hasn’t been breached.

This “new normal” means that while convenience has driven tamper evident plastic packaging in previous years in food production, today it’s about normalized safety precautions.

What is Tamper Evident Packaging, and how are trends changing?

According to the FDA, tamper evident packaging has “one or more indicators or barriers to entry which, if breached or missing, can reasonably be expected to provide visible evidence to consumers that tampering has occurred.” That said, tamper evident isn’t a term that most industry producers are unfamiliar with. The benefits and features are well known to most.

Essential factors of Tamper Evident packaging:

• Limiting touch points
• Avoid handling
• Expose tampering
• Manufacturers responding to desired safety by their customer base

Tamper evidence isn’t just a way to limit shrink, ensuring that your counts stay as stocked. It is also a way to show customers that their safety and health are your priorities. It may be something that consumers begin seeing as paramount in food products, not just for pharmaceuticals and personal products.

Sustainability and Safety: Knowing your consumers

Of course, no piece on plastics consumer trends would be complete without acknowledging that tamper evidence alone isn’t enough for consumers. Sustainability in packaging matters and can set you apart from the competition. People want to feel environmentally responsible, and what they spend their money on (final purchasing decisions) often includes sustainability as a factor.

Vertically integrated companies like EasyPak, utilize post-consumer recycled content (PCR), closed loop, and recycled PET (rPET) resins. That means they offer producers and consumers the best options for sustainable, secure, and cost-effective tamper evident containers. By choosing sustainable options, both consumers and producers reap benefits.

From Grab & Go and Delivery to Staple Feature

Pre-pandemic, the push for tamper evident packaging was primarily driven by convenience and theft control, such as for grab-and-go and delivery. Now, we have become more in tune with limiting the chances of contamination – visually, quickly, and attractively – with the final consumer in mind.

Just as producers are moving away from colored packaging to meet the needs of more educated and enlightened consumers who want clarity and to feel their health and safety needs are met, tamper evident packaging will continue to grow.

As we move forward, we expect that this trend will expand. Not just through all food industries but also through others that deal in buying bulk and selling counts or packaging large amounts of product into consumer-friendly quantities.

EasyPak is Here to Help

At EasyPak, meeting our customers’ needs is our top priority.

Our new, easy-to-use Product Search Helper eliminates frustration from the search for the perfect product for your tamper evident plastic packaging needs. After a quick quiz, you’ll instantly receive a list of product packaging options best fit for you. Once you find your perfect match, you can request a sample or connect with an EasyPak expert.

Ready to dig into your options? Reach out to a representative with an informed and supportive team member today or Request a Sample.