The Hidden Costs of Damaged Deliveries: Why Packaging Performance Matters

Every damaged delivery costs more than the product inside one container. It can disappoint a good customer and cost you your hard-earned reputation.

At Kingston Carton, we do everything in our power to ensure our products are as robust, cost-effective, sustainable and safe as possible. 

We report just a 0.003% damage rate (percentage of items that arrived with our customers broken/not 100% right).This is exceptionally low for the industry and we’re proud of it.  It’s also one of the reasons we maintain our BRCGS AA rating. The BRCGS (international safety and quality certification program used by food manufacturers, packagers, and supply chains) requires continuous tracking of product failures, wastage, and non-conformities as part of routine management reviews and hazard analysis. An AA Grade is the highest certification level awarded. 

Packaging can fail, so perfecting packaging performance is where we spend most of our time, because the right carton, built to the right specs, is one of the most effective ways to protect your product, your margins and your reputation. That's why good design and technical expertise matter just as much as the materials.

When a delivery arrives damaged, the cost of replacing the product is just the start. Once you add in the wider impact, the case for getting packaging right becomes much clearer:

• Replacement products and the cost of remaking them
• Additional logistics costs to send a replacement
• Staff time spent handling complaints, paperwork and returns
• Insurance claims and the administrative cost of processing them
• Lost repeat business from customers who don't order again
• Damage to brand reputation, particularly where reviews and social media are involved

Structural failures such as scuffing, crushed corners, torn seals and split score lines are one of the leading drivers of retail write-downs in UK supermarkets.

This is why we treat designing packaging to your product’s precise specifications as an investment decision, not just a purchasing one.

Is the box always to blame?

No. Damage in transit is usually the result of several factors combining: how the product was packed, how the carton was handled, how it was stacked, how often it was transferred from courier to courier and whether the carton was specified correctly in the first place.

That's exactly why we start with the full picture rather than jumping straight to ‘make it stronger’. A well-specified carton, designed around your product and its actual route to market, absorbs far more of the knocks, drops and shocks along the way.

What makes a carton perform well?

Several factors combine to determine how well a carton performs. Think about these areas…

What good cartons get right: 

• Stacking strength. Whether the carton holds its shape under the weight of others stacked on top, in a warehouse, on a pallet or in a delivery van.
• Correct box size: Too much empty space allows movement and impact during transit; too little creates pressure points and can crush the product.
• Right material or board strength: The right material for the product's weight, shape and sensitivity.
• Structural design: How the carton is engineered to distribute load and resist crushing.

Common mistakes which undermine performance: 

• Choosing the cheapest option instead of the best value.
• A lack of packaging expertise: Designing a box with basic software instead of real packaging knowledge. It may seem obvious, but modern equipment helps reduce spoilage, improve consistency and increase productivity. For example, introducing automatic case sealers on gluing lines reduced waste while speeding up production on our own machines. 

Moisture exposure is an area which we pay particular attention to and is highly relevant for food, drink and anything travelling through variable conditions which might generate condensation.

Once a product is placed in a fridge or freezer, the packaging can face a very different environment from the one it has been manufactured in. 

Cold temperatures can make some materials less flexible and more brittle, and moving products between chilled and warmer environments can lead to condensation building up. If the wrong material has been used, it can result in packaging becoming soft, weakened, or even starting to break down.

For food packaging in chilled or frozen conditions, it’s important to think beyond appearance and consider how the pack will perform in real life. The choice of board, varnish, and adhesive can all have a big impact on durability, print finish, and overall performance.

One material often used for these applications is Folding Box Board (FBB), which is a premium, multi-ply paper-based board well suited to the food manufacturing industry. Combined with the right varnishes, adhesives and cold temperature treatments, it can help packaging maintain its performance in more demanding conditions.

Packaging has to work in real life and our talented team has the skills and knowledge to ensure it performs. 

Getting these factors right and mixing them together with the design requirements of the product or brand is where more than a century of experience makes a big difference. So it is clear to see that one of the most important steps is to get a thorough brief! Cover all areas, including logistics and storage plans.

Why does packaging performance matter more today than ever?

Online shopping has changed what packaging needs to do. A carton built for a single trip from factory to supermarket shelf faces a very different journey to one that has to survive a courier network, multiple handover points and doorstep delivery.

This is why it’s so important to make sure you know how a product will be packed and delivered before it is designed, so the carton is built for the real journey rather than an ideal one.

Can bespoke packaging actually save money?

Absolutely. A carton that's robustly fit for purpose and fitted precisely to the product may cost a modest amount more to produce. But think about the savings in reduced replacements, fewer complaints, less time spent managing damage claims, less time and money spent remediating your reputation.

Can you afford not to go bespoke?

Our team works closely with customers to identify opportunities to improve packaging performance. Sometimes, even a small adjustment can make a big difference.

 

One of our customers was experiencing crushing issues within their storage facilities. We reviewed the carton design and made the box smaller and narrower so it fitted the storage environment more effectively. This reduced the risk of crushing and helped avoid the cost and disruption that damaged packaging can cause.

If you’re reviewing your packaging and wondering where improvements might be found, our team is always happy to share advice and help identify the best solution.

How important is expertise?

It’s key to success!

Predicting how a carton will perform draws on established engineering principles: We look at how board grade and construction affect compression and stacking strength, how a structure behaves under load, how it deals with impacts and handling.

This is why ‘just use a stronger or bigger box’ isn't the answer. Finding the right balance of features is. And that’s exactly the kind of technical judgement our team brings to every brief.

We recently shared a blog on five questions to ask before choosing a carton packaging supplier.

The right supplier should understand your product, your market and the practical realities behind your packaging, taking into consideration food safety and machine performance, shelf impact, storage and logistics.

Sustainability vs. performance - how important is this? 

Reducing material and protecting the product can pull in opposite directions.
For many brands and retailers, sustainability is now a commercial, operational and reputational priority.

Customers want to reduce plastic use, improve recyclability, source materials responsibly and make environmental claims with confidence. Meeting those expectations means making packaging decisions that balance sustainability with performance.

That means considering the material, structure, print and finish, packing process, supply chain and end use. We explore this in more detail in our blog here https://lnkd.in/ejejFzn4

What's next for packaging performance?

A few trends are shaping how we approach carton design for our customers: 

• E-commerce, pushing packaging further towards parcel-network resilience rather than retail-only journeys.
• Sustainability, as businesses look to reduce material use without compromising protection.
• And automation, as more packing and fulfilment is handled by machinery, this places new demands on consistency and structural tolerance. When you design carton packaging, you need to design it to be right for the packaging line, too. The carton's structure, dimensions and material are all influenced by how it will be packed. Automated packing lines require materials and designs that work reliably with machinery, while manually packed cartons offer greater flexibility. The wrong design can slow production, damage products and end up costing far more than expected, so make sure you do your prep and get it right. 

If you'd like a second opinion on whether your current packaging is right for the job, our team is happy to have a chat. Get in touch today. 

Email: sales@kingstoncarton.co.uk
Call: 01482 329886