How to Package a Homebased Cookie Business

In the gourmet cookie business, a beautiful presentation is a key to success, according to Wendy Jedlicka, author of Package Sustainability. Quality packaging enhances the product while generating a solid first impression for your business. Making the effort to deliver an eye-catching package with delicious cookies helps ensure the success of a home-based cookie business. And while decorative boxes remain the most popular package for cookies and can be purchased already decorated, other types of packaging can also be used to create lasting visual memories for your customers.

Choose the appropriate container. A wide variety of visually appealing and inexpensive choices exist, according to Luke Herriott, author of The Packaging and Design Templates Sourcebook 2. Bottles and jars can come in all sizes and shapes. Metal tins exist in many shapes and colors. They also can come in different patterns and sizes.

Gift bags are a good choice because most are coated in plastic. You can make a window in a gift bag or line with tissue paper and allow the paper to peek out of the top. Oversized cooking and soup mugs make good, reusable containers. Simply fill the container and cover with a large piece of cellophane. Tie at the top with colored ribbon. Baskets--another favorite form of packaging-- also come in different shapes and sizes as well as colors.

Clean the container and dry it out before using. Choose an appropriate method for neatly arranging the cookies within the container such as stacking, layering or separating. When packaging more than one type of cookie, separate the different types. Avoid mixing soft and chewy cookies with crispy ones. The chewy cookies make the crispy ones soggy and the chewy delectables will become crispy if mixed. Use a sheet of parchment paper to separate each layer rather than wax paper or plastic wrap when sending several layers of cookies together. Parchment paper is a better choice because it does not "sweat".

Add an inexpensive yet special touch to the container with decorations. Ribbon and tissue paper make packages look beautiful and simple. Colored shredded paper provides a nice filler. Miniature kitchen tools add an adorable and decorative touch.

Create a holiday theme for the cookies. Are consumers using them as a birthday gift or maybe a Christmas holiday gift? Perhaps a consumer will present them to someone special on Valentine's Day. Use the theme of the occasion in the packaging.

Seal the package airtight. Attach labels to the package clearly marked with the package's contents and recommended shelf life, instructs Catharine Fishel, author of the book "Little Book of Big Packaging Ideas." Include your business name and contact information. Make your business information and logo the focus of the label. You want the customer to remember the creative packaging and delicious cookies, but most importantly you want him to remember where they came from.