Leaves, vegetables and animal skins were all used, and once ores and chemical compounds were discovered, we were storing and transporting food in pottery, glass and metal.
From natural containers to the most sophisticated materials and processes, the global packaging industry now generates a turnover exceeding $500bn, of which 60% is food related. While packaging design has evolved, it still at its heart stays close to the principles of practicality and being fit for purpose. And these days, another major consideration is recyclability.
In the UK in 2010, Mintel predicted that the food and beverage packaging industry alone was worth £5.6bn. The UK dairy industry will be consuming its fair share of that with nearly seven billion litres of milk being bottled (plastic and glass) every year. A further six billion litres are used for manufacturing products such as cheese, butter, yogurt, milk powders and cream.
Over 98% of all UK consumers, and 95% of UK households, buy milk each week (source: TNS). For most people, dairy products are a staple of the weekly shop.
While much has been written in the retail and farming press over ‘who get’s what’ in the dairy supply chain, this is generally about the product, but what about the packaging itself? Who makes the decision about what the packaging looks like, or what size it comes in?
Surely, the answer would have to be consumers. They will be surveyed, and their eating and lifestyle habits will be examined carefully to ensure the packaging suits them and their family’s needs; does it fit in the fridge? How do they use it?
It seems, however, that for one particular area of dairy packaging – cream – the supply chain has had the upper hand, and user friendly packaging has lost out as a result.
It’s vital not to underestimate the importance of having packaging that works for both the end consumer and the supply chain. After all, how effectively and efficiently a product is able to pass through the supply chain has a major impact on time-to-market and ultimate cost to the consumer. However, in the case of the cream pot, it seems that opportunities for enhanced usability have been missed because the supply chain has become entrenched in using a particular format.
Unchanged for many years, the thin-walled pot has become the industry standard. It’s easy for processors and retailers to store due to its size and shape, and when unfilled can be stacked, which saves space.
Plastic covers have also been introduced to larger pot sizes to make them resealable, but smaller sizes still have a peelable cover as their only protection against the elements.
Due to the longevity of the design, existing filling lines for this type of container are well established, which may well explain (in part) why consumers haven’t seen any design changes.
So, you would assume that the current cream pot works for consumers, right? Not surprisingly, when put to the test, it doesn’t receive glowing support. Over three quarters of the respondents of a survey carried out by Nampak complained that resealable tops did not click back on securely. This in turn led to wastage, with over 80% of cream users finding that because the resealing was inefficient, cream was going off before they had used it all.
The robustness of the package also brought a marked reaction. Light it may be, but an overwhelming 85% thought the traditional pots were not strong enough, and 75% worried that they could be easily damaged when packed with the rest of the shopping.
Recyclability was also a fundamental issue. Those who lived in areas where they were able to recycle their pots (65%) always did, and 99% of the respondents agreed that cream packaging should be recyclable.
There is clearly a number of attributes that need to be looked at when designing a new product, not least ensuring that it’s ‘fit for purpose’. Taking these into consideration, Nampak developed a lightweight, resealable, leak-proof, easy-pour, fully recyclable rigid packaging for pourable cream, which addresses these challenges from a consumer and recycling perspective.
In Nampak’s survey results, it discovered that the look of the bottle was also important. Half of those surveyed were happy to pour it directly from the packaging at the table (depending on the occasion), meaning a ‘good looking’ container also had its place in the market.
After revitalising the lightweight milk bottle with its Infini design, Nampak felt that the cream bottle was ripe for an overhaul. Created specifically with the consumer in mind, it has a curved design, is easy to pour and store in the fridge and most importantly is resealable.
Recognising the importance of the supply chain, the bottle can also run on existing milk dairy filling lines. While the cream bottle has been designed for dairy cream, there is a clear link to other products, such as added-value dairy, drinking yogurts and juices.
It’s easy to keep producing the same packaging year after year, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing if it works for the consumer and the supply chain. But when the balance of power in design isn’t quite right, we need to be brave enough to challenge ourselves and ask ‘can we do this better and smarter’?
After all, it’s questions like these that foster innovation, and without these sparks of inspiration, we could still be using the prehistoric packaging so beloved of our ancestors.
Ashwin Moorthy is head of engineering and innovation at Nampak Plastics.
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