Welcome to the PAC Global Leadership Awards Innovation Trends update brought to you in partnership with UK packaging innovation consultancy, ThePackHub. We have hand selected five packaging innovation highlights that we think are deserving of mention and will pique your interest. Look for more of these in the coming weeks!
Designing What’s Inside, Outside
Packaging manufacturer Mondi’s creative team have worked together to deliver a new distinctive structural design that is designed to look like the product it protects. Pistachio Dream is inspired by the pistachio nut with the structure, colour (pistachio brown and green) and the opening mechanism designed to resemble the product itself. By pulling the two sides of the box apart, the end user mimics the peeling of the pistachio nut from the peel. The trays that appear on the outside when the pack has been opened work as receptacles for empty pistachio shells. The corrugated cardboard exterior of the primary packaging also makes it easy to stack the nut produce on the shelf.
Simplifying Smart Packaging
The challenges of reducing packaging’s burden on the environment has never been more acute with many examples reaching the pages of the Innovation Zone. In this case we can introduce a packaging system using smart technology to make the reusable packaging process quick and straight-forward. Algramo has introduced a new model that encourages returnability already present in more than 2,000 stores in Santiago, Chile. We tracked this company previously last year. See Reusable packaging system targets low-income markets. Shoppers register at Algramo.com. Special detergent bottles have a chip integrated in them. Dispensers have been installed that will recognise the user and discount the value of the product purchased. For each purchase made in these new dispensers, the user will be informed how much plastic was avoided and its environmental impact and will receive money back to be used to buy new products.
Next Level Smart Bottle Innovation
There have been many smart water bottle hydration systems launched in recent times. Take a look at these from the Innovation Zone. Seattle-based Bazaarian has taken technology to another level with the development of their Hydrade smart bottle. The 700-ml stainless steel double-walled bottle will keep drinks ice-cold for almost a full day and hot for around half that time. The Hydrade bottle comes into its own due with some additional innovative features. Firstly, it is completely solar powered with no charging port on the bottle. To fully charge the battery, the bottle will need to stay in the sun for around 20 hours in total, but a full charge will last for 20 days of use. It also knows when the user is really drinking the water (rather than pouring it away). Finally, every drop drunk generates a donation for the equivalent amount of clean, safe drinking water to people in 27 developing countries via Charity: water.
Packaging to Demystify the Avocado
Valsamoggia, Italy based Ilip has announced the introduction of a new packaging format to improve the longevity of avocado. The new system solves a major consumer pain point by helping to indicate whether the fruit is ripe and ready to eat. The new packaging is able to communicate information about the ripeness of the produce. It is called Smart Ripe and has been developed in collaboration with University of Rome Tor Vergata and the University of Turin’s Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences. The system uses an RFID tag to detect in a non-invasive way the dielectric variations in the fruit pulp to help determine its ripeness. The information related to the fruit’s turgidity, acidity, water and sugar content is transmitted to a smart phone app to help indicate if the fruit is ripe. The Smart Ripe technology can be applied beyond avocados to a range of different types of fruit or vegetables.
Coca-Cola’s Newest Campaign
Coca-Cola have announced a new summer campaign for the US market that will see their bottles sporting detachable labels. Promotional packs will have a new label branded ‘Enjoy’ in the traditional Coca Cola logo typography. The 590ml PET bottles have a detachable label and can be used as a bracelet for consumers. The campaign gives shoppers the opportunity to win one of 150,000 prizes using their smart phones to scan a range of Coca-Cola flavours. Prizes vary from tickets for shows, movies, amusement parks and baseball games. Coca Cola undertook a similar activity a couple of summers ago in the Romanian market. See also Bottle labels double as festival wristbands.
These innovations are a selection of the nearly 3,300 articles uploaded to ThePackHub’s Innovation Zone database. If you’d like to know more please let us know. Until next time.