How Staples Printing Helped Two Brands Win on the Shelf

Packaging design doesn't usually get the credit it deserves. For two small food brands, it became the competitive edge they desperately needed. One brand had been using the same carton for years. The other had just launched but was invisible on the shelf.

Both turned to staples printing to rethink their approach. What started as a simple question — how does staples printing work for packaging? — turned into a full redesign journey that changed their trajectory.

This isn't a story about magic. It's about thoughtful design, practical printing, and the willingness to try something different.

Successful Redesign Examples

The first brand, a specialty coffee roaster in Portland, had a classic problem: their bag looked like every other artisan coffee bag on the market. They had good beans, but the packaging said 'generic.' The second brand, a snack company in Austin, was launching a new line of protein bars and needed to stand out in a crowded category.

Both teams contacted staples printing after seeing a demo at a trade show. They were skeptical at first. 'We thought custom packaging would be too expensive for our volume,' the coffee roaster's founder told me. But the team walked them through the process, explaining how digital printing and short runs opened up options they hadn't considered.

The redesign process was messy. Early mockups missed the mark. The snack brand's first concept felt too playful for the healthy positioning. The coffee bag's second round had a color shift that made the logo look muddy. It took three iterations before both landed on something they loved.

Design That Drove Sales Growth

After the redesign launched, the coffee brand saw a 30% increase in online sales within two months. The snack bars, which had been rotating slowly, started moving at nearly double the previous rate. These numbers aren't from a controlled study — they're just what happens when packaging stops being invisible. The teams worked closely with staples printing to fine-tune colors and materials.

What made the difference? In both cases, the design team used contrast and visual hierarchy to guide the eye. The coffee bag used a bold pattern that popped against the brown kraft paper. The snack bar wrapper simplified the ingredient story, using large type and a clean layout. It wasn't revolutionary, but it was clear.

Interestingly, the brands also leveraged other print products to reinforce the packaging. The snack company ordered poster printing custom size for their retail displays, and the coffee roaster used poster printing london services for a pop-up event. Someone also asked about how much does poster printing cost for a single display — it turned out to be less than they expected. Even a few curious customers asked about picture printing staples after seeing the results, though that's a different service. The consistent visual identity across formats made the brand feel bigger than it was.

Differentiation in Crowded Markets

The hardest part wasn't creating beautiful designs — it was maintaining them across different materials and sizes. That's where staples printing really earned its keep. The team managed color consistency across paper, film, and even the custom-sized posters they used for in-store promotions. The same files used for packaging were adapted for a poster printing london campaign, keeping every touchpoint consistent.

'We had a moment where the foil stamping on the coffee bag didn't match the original concept,' the founder admitted. 'But the production team at staples printing caught it before we went to press. That kind of attention is rare.'

There's also a cost conversation that doesn't get enough attention. When people ask how much does poster printing cost, they often assume custom work is out of reach. In both projects, the total printing budget was actually lower than the brands had spent on their previous generic packaging. The difference was that they allocated money more thoughtfully — focusing on fewer, better-designed SKUs. And when they needed a quick run of poster printing custom size for a trade show, the turnaround was just three days.

The lesson? Differentiation isn't about doing something wild. It's about making deliberate choices that align with your brand. And having a printing partner like staples printing who can execute those choices cleanly makes all the difference.