Top 5 CBD Packaging Mistakes to Avoid
5 Common (and Costly) Packaging Mistakes to Avoid
Without safe and secure packaging, your product won’t make it onto the shelves.
Packaging is one of the most important decisions you’ll be making for your business, and in the hemp industry, this can come with a few extra challenges. Choosing the wrong packaging can be costly, hurt your brand’s reputation, and even lead to product recalls. If your packaging is unsafe or too difficult to use, it can make you lose customers, even with a great product!
To make all of this easier, we’ve compiled a list of the most common (and costly) packaging mistakes to avoid:
Your Packaging doesn’t protect against UV-Exposure
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation can damage your products and make them degrade much faster than they usually would. Hemp flower, CBD oils, or any other hemp-derived products are highly sensitive to UV light, and will easily lose their shelf-life and potency. Exposure to UV may also change the colour, taste, and texture of hemp products. It often turns CBD oil cloudy and bitter, which can ruin a user experience.
Look for UV-resistant packaging solutions, such as amber glass or PET plastic containers to protect your product from UV damage.
You’re not using PET/ recycled PET Packaging
PET is a strong, lightweight, and shatterproof plastic. It’s also fully recyclable as the most widely recycled plastic in the world! Using PET containers can help prevent spoilage by protecting your product from sun and heat exposure. PET plastics are safe for consumable products and don’t leak any chemicals into their contents, which is crucial for edible or smokeable products such as hemp flower and CBD oil.
You’re not considering Sustainability
A Global Sustainability study shows that 85% of consumers have become “greener” in their purchases in the past five years. They value sustainability, and are willing to pay a premium for sustainable products. For your brand to be sustainable, you need to consider all steps of your process, including packaging. There are many great sustainable packaging solutions: Amber glass jars, recycled PET, or bio-based PE plastics made from renewable plant-based resources.
Check out our wide range of sustainable packaging options here!
Your Packaging doesn’t have Safety Features
While CBD products are generally safe to consume, they still contain psychoactive ingredients that aren’t safe for children. Depending on the product, CBD should be treated similarly to medications or supplements and packaged accordingly. In the US, most states require child-resistant closures for CBD products, which may soon be the case in Europe too. Most people have children or pets in their life to consider when buying CBD, and safe packaging can make or break that decision. Especially in products that appeal to children, like CBD gummies, child-safe packaging is crucial to protect your customers and their loved ones.
You’ve selected the Wrong Packaging
When choosing your packaging, you might not have considered how all the pieces work together. One of the most common complaints with CBD oil is leakage from the pipette not being fitted properly. These little mistakes are easy to avoid but can be tricky to spot. When choosing the right packaging for your products, also consider how consumers will be using them. If you’re selling CBD for pain relief, you don’t want to make your jars or clasps too difficult to open for weaker or elderly consumers. Or, if you sell CBD gummies as an easy and discreet way to take CBD, you’ll want to avoid using oversized containers that are impractical on the go.
The Bottom Line
The right packaging is easy to use, convenient, and secure.
You don’t want your product to get damaged in transport or go bad on the shelf, which is why proper packaging is so important. Your packaging should keep out environmental threats, such as UV light, heat, and oxygen. It also needs to be secure, child-safe, and tamper-proof to protect your brand and its customers. Sustainability is another growing requirement in packaging. As consumers are considering their own environmental footprints, they want to buy from brands that share these values. If you have any questions on sustainable packaging, feel free to reach out to our team!
Sources:
New Frontier Data: Beating the Wrap: EU Cannabis Marketers Face Packaging Challenges