How a Custom Coffee Cup and Bag Make the Perfect Sales Team

An eye-catching custom coffee cup or custom coffee bag garners quiet attention wherever it goes. If the messaging resonates, people will file away the name on the packaging to look up later. Custom packaging with great branding is a calling card that can pay dividends long after it's been discarded.

In this guide, we’re going to explore the different ways custom packaging can impact sales growth for coffee-related small businesses like cafes and roasteries. By the end of the guide, you’ll understand why custom packaging is important for small businesses, how custom packaging works as a branding and marketing tool, and which packaging type you should customize first.

Does Packaging Really Matter?

The answer is a resounding yes.  If you're a coffee business owner, you may believe that your product can speak for itself and the packaging matters little. However, for people who have yet to try your products, the packaging matters very much. It is their first introduction to you as a brand and also provides an indication about what kind of quality they can expect from your coffee.

In fact, the packaging is not only important for customer first impressions, but it's also an extremely important part of a good small business marketing strategy.

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Why Packaging Is So Important for Small Businesses

Packaging is very important for small business owners for a multitude of reasons, one of the most important is the marketing opportunity it provides. In addition to that is the professionalism it signals, the differentiator it provides, and how it gives you a chance to compete with large coffee businesses. 

Provides an Unparallel Marketing Opportunity

Each time a customer leaves your physical store with a custom coffee bag or cup, a marketing opportunity accompanies them. The moment they enter the public sphere with your custom packaging, potential new customers are being made aware of your brand. If you are using stock bags and cups, then you are missing out on a great opportunity. 

Signals Professionalism

People associate branding with professionalism. When a customer is shopping around for a new coffee shop or roastery, they are judging you for your professionalism before they judge what your product tastes like. The only way they can make any judgment about you is through your storefront and packaging. 

Differentiates You From Local Competitors

Sometimes you can walk into a coffee business and swear you’ve already been there before, even though you know you haven’t. That’s because sometimes, similar coffee businesses end up looking just like one another, right down to menu items. When this happens, it’s very difficult for customers to remember you exist or even figure out a way to judge one shop against another.

Branding should help you make that differentiation for your business, and packaging is one of the easiest ways you can visually illustrate your unique brand identity. For example, your local competition may be packaging their beans in standard generic kraft bags. If you package yours in a custom tissue paper bag, it instantly sets you apart and tells customers you care about the details.

Go Toe-to-Toe with the Big Guys

Large coffee businesses have big ad budgets and national presence that you can’t compete with, but you can compete with their packaging. You may be trying to scrimp and save on your packaging requirements with the assumption that the quality of your coffee will win you customers. But before customers are going to judge you on your coffee quality, they are going to judge you on your packaging and how it compares to familiar brands. 

While small coffee businesses may have the best beans and brews, the quality of the packaging is the first indicator potential customers have of your product quality. If your packaging is as good or better than the big guys, customers know you're serious about your coffee.  

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What Type of Custom Packaging Gives You Brand Presence Fast 

While there are many types of packaging that coffee businesses may use, the two types of packaging that can give you a big bang for your buck immediately are custom coffee bags and custom coffee cups. 

Your custom coffee bag goes into your customer’s personal spaces. It sits on a shelf in their kitchen or office for at least two weeks, making your branding a familiar sight and a part of their everyday life. Not only does that custom bag become a part of your customer’s life, but also a part of their family and friends’ lives. And it can also show up on their social media during a breakfast shot, a weekend story, or a morning routine reel.

The custom coffee cup is your mobile ambassador. It is out on the street, in parks, in offices, on transportation, and everywhere in between. Your custom coffee cup with logo can go where you can’t go and where even paid advertising can’t reach. It reinforces your brand identity, fosters brand recognition, and builds curiosity.

Custom Coffee Bags Are More Than a Storage Solution

Your retail display gives you a chance to impress and woo your customers, and your packaging matters a lot more than the coffee inside. That’s because no one can taste what’s in the package, and so the decision is made based upon the packaging.

A retail shelf stocked with beautiful custom bags that share a consistent story gives a sense of professionalism. Customers can feel confident that if you pay such attention to your packaging, you also pay close attention to your product. Options like a custom resealable matte coffee bags with valve instantly indicate that you care about the quality of your coffee because not only is your packaging aesthetic, but it is also functional. The valve helps to protect the coffee by ensuring that oxygen doesn’t get into the bag and CO2 doesn’t escape, while the zipper ensures freshness.

Now compare a shelf of custom coffee bags to a shelf filled with coffee packaged in stock paper bags. With the latter, the customer gets the impression that you are still in the testing stage at your business and perhaps still figuring things out. It can also indicate that your coffee products are also in the beginning stages of development and therefore may not be quite as good as established brands. Custom coffee cups do a lot for your brand like provide brand recognition, reinforce brand identity.

Reinforcing Brand Identity

First off, if you want to stand out from the hundreds of coffee options customers have today, you need a brand identity. The only way you can have a brand identity is if you have a brand story, and that brand story needs to be consistent. Consistency means everything that is related to your brand, from your packaging to your storefront, tells that story. Everything from the materials you use for packaging to the colors that represent your brand needs to be in line with your brand identity.

For example, a brand with an eco-conscious identity shoulduse materials that reflect that eco-conscious ethos, like a bag made of materials that are recyclable, such as the recyclable custom tissue paper bag. The customization of that bag would also need to fall in line with the identity by using colors associated with the environment, like greens and browns. The logo and graphics should also reflect the brand story if a brand identity is going to be built.  

Reinforcing Brand Recognition

Your logo and colors are far more than pretty details. Your logos and colors become an extension of your brand, and over time, they become the brand itself. When people see colors or graphics associated with your brand, they immediately think of you, and that’s what you want. You want this association to be pervasive and positive.

A strong example of brand color association that is the white and green color palette of Starbucks. People around the world immediately think of the company when they see that particular shade of green along with white on a coffee bag or cup anywhere.

The moment a specific color or logo becomes associated with you, it is easy for you to become instantly recognizable. And the colors and logo become a reminder for customers for the next time they need a cup of coffee or a bag of coffee beans. Customers who buy coffee beans and ground coffee from local coffee businesses are very different than those who buy bulk coffee from the grocery store. These customers care about quality, and they care about the story behind the brand. What story are you telling?

 

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Custom Coffee Cups: The Perfect Traveling Salesman

As a marketing tool, the custom coffee cup is genius. A customer does not think twice about picking up a coffee cup emblazoned with a logo and walking out your cafe door. As soon as they do that, they become your very own walking advertisement. The more customers you have, the more walking ads you have playing out in public. 

On the Street

Think about all of the possible places a person can go after they walk out of your coffee storefront and the number of people they are likely to encounter. Just by simply walking down the street, they are likely to cross paths with anywhere from a few to dozens of other pedestrians, not to mention cars stopped at lights, stop signs, or just parked waiting for someone. 

In the Office

That same customer may board a form of public transportation, like a train or a bus, where they will encounter even more people. Or they may head into an office building where they can cross paths with ten or even 100 people.  

On Social Media

And we cannot forget about one of the most important places your custom coffee cup can appear: social media. Your customer’s shot of her day with a coffee cup in hand can reach anywhere from a few dozen to thousands of people online.

In House

While the custom coffee cup does a lot of work when it leaves your storefront, it's still working very hard inside. Custom packaging within your space provides a cohesive experience where colors from your packaging complement your interiors. This provides customers with a more high-end experience and creates feelings of belonging to something special.

How the Custom Paper Coffee Cup Has Evolved

The entry-level cup is typically a simple custom-printed single-wall cup, but the industry has evolved far beyond that. Today, customized cups can be beautiful pieces of art if you want them to be. For example, custom die-cut window paper cups provide a playful and artistic experience. These types of cups have a window that your customer can open, and behind the window is typically a beautiful design or logo, or it can even be some sort of surprise. 

Custom coffee cups can come in different textures and finishes like cork, leather, and metallics. Pair the different design types with your brand colors and logo, and you can truly create a one-of-a-kind coffee cup that your customers will be impressed by and want to share on social media.

How to Make Your Custom Coffee Cup Design Count

The most important thing about your design, if you want to use it as a marketing tool, is that your brand name and/or logo should be visible from several feet away. While intricate graphics look beautiful up close, from a distance, they can look almost like a blur. So when you are conjuring up your cup design, keep contrast and visibility in mind. 

The best branding on coffee cups is usually composed of a simple one to two color logo and brand name set against a contrasting backdrop. This allows the best chance for your brand to be recognized at a distance and in different lighting conditions.

Additionally, you should also think about the logo and branding placement around your cup. Ideally, they should be printed on at least two sides, if not on four sides, so that no matter how your customer holds the cup, the branding is visible.

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How Small Coffee Businesses Can Now Compete With the Big Guys

Previously, custom packaging was only accessible to large companies thanks to huge minimum order quantity requirements. That meant that big chains, which were already able to dominate the market thanks to national presence, were able to get an unfair advantage on the local scene with premium packaging too.

Smaller MOQs

Today, small businesses have options with select packaging suppliers catering to small business needs. That means instead of having to order a six-month or even a year supply upfront, small businesses can place orders for smaller amounts. This breakthrough is very important as storefronts can have minimal space for stock, and business owners don’t want to tie up cash on stock they aren’t going to use for another six months.

Custom Color and Customer Experience

Whereas stock packaging comes in a limited number of colors that everyone uses. Custom cups and bags can be printed with your exact color palette, which can significantly impact on brand recognition. This option can set you apart from all of your competitors while providing customers with a unique aesthetic experience, which gives them a sense of belonging to something exclusive.

Seasonal Play

If you’re in the coffee business, you know how much consumers love seasonal packaging. Seasonal packaging is a powerful brand visibility tool while at the same time creating emotional connections. Thanks to lower minimum order quantities, you too can experiment with seasonal packaging by ordering just enough for your holiday needs. 

Why Use Seasonal Packaging

• Seasonal packaging creates a sense of FOMO with customers not wanting to miss out on the limited edition packaging. 
• Holiday packaging by its very nature is usually bright, colorful, and interesting to look at. And that means it is perfect to share on social media.
• For certain holidays like Christmas, when gift-giving is important, seasonal packaging can almost be considered necessary if you want to reap the benefits of holiday season spending. Think about it: if you are presented with two bags of coffee beans, one in holiday packaging and the other in standard packaging during December, which one are you more likely to choose?

The Elephant in the Room: Cost

Yes, customized packaging is more expensive than stock packaging. However, if you make smart design choices and start with a few key items, the additional cost doesn’t have to be significantly higher than what you’re already paying for packaging. The two best items to start with are a custom coffee cup with a logo and a custom coffee bag.

More importantly, the additional cost per piece of packaging is actually a marketing cost and therefore an investment in your business. For example, if you order a custom cork coffee cup, the cost is more than a plain coffee cup, but that cork aesthetic can take your brand to new heights at the marketing perspective.

The exact returns on your packaging investment can be difficult to pinpoint because there are many ways the return can happen. The following are all of the ways your packaging is utilized as a marketing tool and the returns that can come from it.

Creates Brand Awareness

The more that people see your brand name/logo, the more chances there are that they are going to remember it and eventually be curious enough to try your product. Additionally, the better quality the packaging your brand name is on, the more of an impression that is made. 

Builds a Sense of Familiarity

People’s lives are ever-changing and hectic, which is why people seek comfort in things that are familiar or nostalgic. Consistent branded packaging helps create a sense of familiarity so that each time a customer sees your packaging, it can promote feelings of comfort, like seeing an old friend.

Encourages Social Media UGC

If you create aesthetically pleasing packaging, consumers will snap pictures of it or with it as part of their day. User-generated content is such a great form of advertising that big brands simulate UGC likeness and quality even when producing paid ads. 

Provides a Professional Halo

Your custom packaging is a signal of your level of professionalism, which customers believe correlates with the quality of your products. For example, your in-store set up can be significantly affected by your packaging.

A retail shelf display that is lined with beautifully designed custom zipper flat bottom bags sends a far more professional message then a shelf displaying stock paper bags. The zipper indicates that you care about the freshness of your coffee, while the flat bottom allows you to easily display the bag. The customized logo and colors provide brand cohesion and an aesthetically-pleasing experience.

Customers who see professional packaging are more likely to try your product, pay more for that product, and recommend that product (or at least talk about it) with their friends and family.

Making Smart Decisions

As a small business, you need to make smart decisions when it comes to marketing. Instead of focusing on big ticket marketing like advertising, a small coffee business needs to focus on the small things. Small things, when done right, can have a major impact.

Custom packaging may seem like a small thing, but it's impact can be massive thanks to its mobile nature. With the right branding, a custom coffee bag or cup can bring in new customers and stoke curiosity until the curious person becomes a customer. 

The right custom packaging gives you an opportunity to not only help you establish brand identity, but it can also set you apart from local competitors. If you’re interested in learning more about the packaging options available to you, one of our custom packaging specialists will be happy to help.

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