Brand owners communicate with the consumer via packaging. Rest assured – the consumer judges the product by the package. Print quality, novelty and imagery trigger latent desires of want that ultimately build brand empires. Think of Kodak, Campbell Soup, Birks and Coca-Cola, to mention just a few of the iconic brands.
The global packaging industry, excluding sustainable packaging was worth $429 billion in 2009; by 2014 it’s expected to reach $530 billion. Incidentally, the fledgling sustainable packaging market will be worth $170 billion by 2014. It wasn’t long ago that packaging was considered more of a nuisance than a cash cow.
In fact, rather than relinquish profit margins for consumer convenience, some packaging suppliers choose to stifle the development of convenience attributes altogether. Case in point is the addition of a resealable closure on gable top cartons. The gable top was first patented in 1915. In 1969, we could put Neil Armstrong on the moon but it wasn’t until 1992, some 23 years later, that industry chose to place a cap on gable top cartons. You be the judge of the technology leap required to put Neil on the moon versus a cap on a carton.
Now I won’t even venture into the realm of clamshell’s or blister packaging for fear of losing focus on the issue at hand; sustainable packaging. Seldom is it that an individual, let alone an industry, is granted an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start fresh. The highly publicized threat of global warming provides the impetus to redesign for eco-functionality. Talk about a windfall.
The question begs to be asked; what is industry doing with this windfall? As both a judge and subject-matter-expert on packaging, I critique a number of commercialized products exclaiming to be “green.” If we want to reverse the verdict on packaging, then there must be a sense of urgency to push the envelope on development.
Brand owners that manufacture a product constructed from recycled or natural materials feel that is where their obligation to the environmental issue ends. Wrong. Maintaining status quo is not an option.
Here’s an example of what I’m talking about. Toilet tissue. Every building with a toilet is consuming rolls of toilet tissue on a daily basis. Now consider the number of roll cores that today end up as post consumer waste. Redesign toilet tissue rolls without roll cores and overnight one source of waste is eradicated.
Let’s look for another quick win. Rather than reconfiguring beer cases to accommodate six, eight or fifty bottles or cans, focus on returnable packaging and eliminate a significant source of post consumer waste. The returnable crate works in Europe. Why reinvent the wheel? Implement global best practices, and put the little gray cells to work on the bigger issues.
Heinz recently unveiled an evolutionary packaging development catering to the fast food industry: a new Dip & Squeeze ketchup package. The concept is brilliant and long overdue in fact. Yet, before we rid ourselves of the old sachets, let’s consider the functionality of the new package. Can we say it’s best in class? After all, its predecessor, the sachet, has been around since 1968 without any improvements. Sound familiar?
Ease of use, good to the last drop, product accessibility, splatter-free and totally recyclable jump to mind as approval criteria. The frustration level with today’s sachets ranks as high as the impenetrable clamshell, so let’s focus on delivering the hassle-free element.
Just enough ketchup without being wasteful per package means no residual ketchup due to difficulties in emptying the package. The last thing we want are more seagulls fighting over the spent packages or creatures ingesting more plastic film.
The dipping concept is a given. It’s actually an intuitive extension of the many single-serve packs that accompany our toast and pancakes (think butter, jam and syrups). Better still; think chicken and rib-dipping sauces or salad dressings.
Does the new Dip & Squeeze warrant our attention? One year’s production for Heinz yields 11 billion units, which equates to an annual usage of two packets per person on the planet.
So what do we say to companies that fail to go the distance when designing green packaging? Think revolutionary or radical development. Sure, there’s an urgency to get a better package to market, but let’s address all the design criteria before we put it on the table.
As per the examples that I’ve cited, toilet tissue, beer cases and single-serve ketchup packets, they all have green solutions near at hand. The desire to be best in class will drive the packaging legacy of a non-polluting industry.
Key words that should begin to resonate with packaging designers are eco-effectiveness, recyclable, intuitive, smart and environmentally friendly.
