The concept of touch plays a big role in food packaging, consumerism and safety concerns. Packaging designers want to make sure the material touching the food is safe. Shoppers like to touch packages before they buy them, which influences perceptions. Here are important points to know from various studies about the sense of touch and how it affects food packaging.

Consumer studies on the need for touch (NFT) point toward fascinating opportunities for metal packaging designers to learn new ways to understand shopping behavior. The search and purchasing stages are the key areas of focus that can help a brand gain an edge on understanding of consumer decision-making patterns.

Metal packaging is among the safest solutions for preserving a food or cosmetic product. It's also eco-friendly since it's recyclable and it's economical because it's lower cost than other packaging materials. Here are essential points to remember about designing metal packaging. 

Perishable products are described as goods that have a short lifetime or easily deteriorate. This includes things like fresh foods, dairy products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals [1]. This is important to keep in mind when designing packaging for perishables as they have a larger risk of spoiling than non perishable products. Furthermore, perishable products are typically consumed or used on the body, so they regularly come into contact with sensitive areas. These issues lead to perishables posing real health risks for consumers when they are improperly packaged. Governments work to prevent these health risks by implementing regulations on the requirements for packaging, storage, and shipping of perishable products.

Investigations into what colors mean and how they influence consumers have brought marketers and packaging designers a mix of clarity and appetite for deeper knowledge. While there are plenty of studies to draw from to make useful assumptions about new designs, there are still many unanswered questions about the relationship between colors and emotions. Here are some of the findings that many researchers agree upon that can help designers understand why colors play a major role in consumer choices and behavior.

People understand and react to colors in mysterious ways. Some colors can elicit both positive or negative responses while others lean more in one direction. Most colors, other than gray, are associated with overall positive emotions. That's what years of color research has found, yet scientists still haven't answered some of the deepest questions about the connection between colors, emotions and behavior.

 The link between colors and emotions taps into deep psychology that is still not completely understood by researchers. While it's clear that color can be perceived and felt in multiple ways, packaging designers can use known studies of the past century and earlier to gain insight in how colors play a compelling role in attracting consumers in retail stores and affecting purchasing decisions. 

The opinions of consumers in the United States and Europe will have a large effect on shaping the future of food packaging. In the U.S. over 50% of people say that one of the most important factors for packaging is convenience. Additionally, over 90% of people believe that healthy eating habits are important to having a long life, 70% of people try to eat healthy every meal, and 60% of people realize when they aren’t eating healthy and would like to improve [1]. This increased awareness of how food and health are related is a big change from the fast food obsessed USA of the past. These trends will undoubtedly influence food packaging as consumers continue to look for convenient and healthy food options.

The Metal Recycles Forever Logo is designed to be used on tin and aluminum packaging. It is a small logo created by the organization Metal Packaging Europe to promote the use of recyclable metal packaging. When used on packaging it certifies that the package is designed with recyclable and sustainable properties in mind. It provides consumers with a visual symbol to acknowledge that the product package they are purchasing can be recycled and hints that the company using the package is environmentally conscious [6].