Rhodri Ferrier Co-founder Bulldog The worse thing a new entrant can do is blend into the crowd. Packaging is fundamental, everything else is derivative, because if consumers don't pick it up and want to try it then that's it - so it's worth spending money on. Products in our market are all blacks, greys and blues so we chose white to stand out. We continually talk about the fact that our biggest billboard is the shelf in Sainsbury's and that unless the packaging is the best that it can possibly be it will fail. Packaging is particularly important for small companies that don't have big pockets and the ability to spend lots on marketing and advertising - this is part of the reason our logo is so big on our packs. But you also learn as you go, and our packs will evolve as we understand exactly what our consumers want from us. Brian Chapman MD, Food Brands Group Packaging is very important in our sector. Like wine, a lot of coffee is bought on how it looks rather than what it might taste like. We launched new packaging about two years ago to tell consumers that we were an individual and innovative company and not a big multinational, so we chose a very unstructured approach. All the packets are very different and tell people where the product is from, so our American blend has images of New York, for example. Once you have a good idea in food and drink people copy it, so it's vital that you work hard to be different. Our packs are very colourful, with images of rainforests and the Inca trail on them rather than the traditional black packaging and this gives them great standout. It has also helped bring a lot of younger people to our market.