Few sectors put brands under greater pressure at the point of choice.
Consumers face enormous variety across supermarkets, convenience stores, hospitality, delivery platforms and ecommerce. At the same time, private-label products have become increasingly credible competitors: NIQ found that 68% of consumers globally regard private labels as good alternatives to established brands.
Yet brands still matter. More than half of consumers surveyed by NIQ said they were likely to treat themselves by upgrading to a premium branded product.
“68% of consumers see private label as a good alternative to name brands.” — NIQ
Explore NIQ's 2025 Global Outlook on branded and private-label products
The challenge is straightforward.
When products are easy to compare, brands need to give people a clear reason to choose.
For many food and beverage brands, packaging is the most frequent expression of the brand customers experience.
It must attract attention, communicate quality, explain ingredients and benefits, help customers navigate product ranges and remain recognisable across physical and digital channels.
NIQ describes packaging as potentially the consumer's first experience with a brand, making it a powerful vehicle for communicating value and building trust.
And expectations are changing. NIQ's 2025 food and beverage research found that 71% of surveyed consumers scrutinise ingredients, origins and nutritional benefits before purchasing, while packaging and aesthetics increasingly influence selection and sharing.
Great packaging doesn't simply contain the product. It helps sell the proposition.
Not every food and beverage decision happens at the shelf.
NIQ found that more than 65% of beverage purchases are planned, with many consumers entering the store already knowing which brand they intend to buy.
That makes recognition and memory just as important as shelf standout.
Distinctive colours, shapes, names, typography, imagery and verbal assets help brands become easier to recognise and recall across advertising, social media, retail and packaging.
The battle for choice often begins long before the customer reaches the product.
Oatly demonstrates how a relatively ordinary product can become a highly distinctive brand.
Rather than behaving like a conventional dairy-alternative business, Oatly built a recognisable world around its hand-drawn identity, unconventional packaging, conversational language and distinctive point of view.
Packaging became a communications channel in its own right. Oatly has even explained that its earlier, more conventional packaging was not being noticed — prompting the business to use the carton itself to communicate ideas and personality.
The system extends beyond the pack. The same visual and verbal personality runs through advertising, digital content, sustainability communications and increasingly unconventional cultural collaborations.
The strategic lesson is bigger than oat milk.
Distinctiveness turns products into brands — and gives customers something recognisable to choose.
The strongest food and beverage brands become easy to recognise, easy to understand and easy to choose.
Aeron is an international brand consultancy specialising in brand strategy, brand architecture, visual and verbal identity, packaging design, customer experience, digital design and integrated marketing.
We help food and beverage organisations create clearer propositions, distinctive identities and packaging, stronger portfolios and connected brand experiences that build recognition, preference and sustainable growth.
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