bengaluru "design is intelligence made visible," said alina wheeler, author of &39designing brand identity&39. in a world where one size does not fit all, design plays an overarching role combining utility with aesthetic appeal in a wholesome story of a brand ready to be told.in a worl .. read more athttpeconomictimes.indiatimes.comarticleshow47011263.cmsutmsourcecontentofinterest&utmmediumtext&utmcampaigncppstfood and beverage companies such as hello curry, biryani360, chai point, hokey pokey and itiffin, that work on a strong delivery model, bear this out as they are innovating on their packaging around twin themes of convenience and contemporary appeal."traditionally, in retail, product packaging was important as it was the first moment of truth for a consumer wanting to consume a product. now, because of ecommerce, you may not engage with a product before consuming and the role of packaging is more than what it used to be," said priya jayaraman, cofounder and business director of propaganda india, a creative agency that has worked with several startups on their branding initiatives.hyderabadbased hello curry, an ondemand food company focusing on affordable indian cuisine, for instance, has designed its paper boxes as a pot to fit in all meal elements together akin to a chinese takeaway."indian food requires a lot of real estate and drama and we&39ve erased the table with our boxes," said raju bhupati, ceo and cofounder of hello curry. the box, coated with polyethylene inside, has a partition to separate the curry item and the rice or parathas.the convenience of this eatonthego design has found takers in the corporate world, especially in the it sector, where word spread especially fast. "amazon once ordered about 3,000 pots of biryani in one shot," said bhupati, adding that these boxes helped significantly in brand building.ditto for chai point, a chain of tea shops selling variants of the beverage across 70 outlets, which launched &39chai in a flask&39 less than a year ago to cater to increased requests for deliveries. instead of serving tea in plastic or stainless steel flasks, the company innovated with a portable, heat retaining and hygienic option a cardboard shell with a nozzle that carries contents in a food grade pouch inside, which is attracting 500 orders a day."the flask has given tea a cool factor. our goal was to make our packaging for white collar workforce to order and place it in glitzy boardrooms. we have achieved that," said amuleek singh, ceo and cofounder of chai point.the company says it has 9,000 regular customers for these flasks, with 100 companies subscribing to it regularly.flasks are priced at rs 120200 for a 1 litre flask depending on the variant and rs 90 for 500 ml.weekends, singh said, see a spurt in deliveries from residential apartments near the company&39s hubs where orders zoom up to as much as three times compared to weekdays, mainly from families or bachelors."good design is both utility and aesthetics. something for the sake of design doesn&39t work," said neeraj kakkar, ceo of hector beverages, the makers of paper boat, a range of nonalcoholic indian beverages that is also considered a pioneer in innovative packaging.paper boat, which launched easytocarry pouches with a cap, made indian drinks cool, as its design aimed to break the clutter on shelves that it shared with industry behemoths like coca cola and pepsico."food and beverage companies need to attack all four aspects with packaging preserving food from outside environment, easy to consume, transport and lastly communicate the brand&39s story by talking to a consumer through packaging," kakkar said.while entrepreneurs are beginning to understand the value of good design that has sought the attention and praise of target audiences, the road ahead is still a bit bumpy."unfortunately we live in a society where money is the only objective, not changing it for the better. every single customer says, &39oh god the packaging is awesome&39, and every single investor i have met says, &39you&39re spending too much on packaging, you need to cut costs, no one cares&39," said shayan italia, ceo of biryani360, a deliveryonly restaurant in mumbai specialising in vegetarian and nonvegetarian biryani.the company serves food in microwavable trays placed inside a cardboard box using volumetric technology and has a customer repeat rate of 30. "if investment was hand in glove with purpose, it would be an absolutely fantastic market to be a part of as a growing economy," added italia.for tapan kumar das, who launched itiffin in 2013, a deliveryonly company focusing on nutritious food, sourcing an alternative to plastic is still a struggle. "with food plastic is an integral part of packaging but against green revolution. there&39s currently no solution to food safety issues. we are working with the packaging industry for this."till these hurdles are crossed, jayaraman advises young companies to focus on having a conversation with the customer through packaging and design. "when something arrives, if the packaging is acceptable, aesthetic, creative early adopters are preconditioned to believe that it comes with a certain quality," she said.startups must ensure more than aesthetics and form in their packaging, she said, adding, "there is room for exploration in communication on a pack. if it doesn&39t talk to you there is nothing more to it."like hokey pokey, a brand of icecreams targeted at cosmopolitan women between 2328 years, for instance, recently revamped its packaging to red, triangular shaped boxes with suggestions to reuse these boxes as storage containers with a variety of use cases. "icecream as a category is something women get excited about. the female was a driving decision maker to purchases as women are more passionate about it. so when we speak through our packaging we speak to her in that context,"said rohan mirchandani, ceo and cofounder of drums food international, the makers of hokey pokey 
