Vetroplas has supplied aluminium packaging for hairdresser George Northwood’s home haircare products range UNDONE.
Working in partnership with Envases, Vetroplas created the packaging using 250ml and 500ml aluminium bottles with a clean and contemporary ‘premium’ look.
Multi-coloured offset direct printing onto the bottle, over a white base coat covered with soft touch varnish, allows clear communication of straightforward propositions which cut through a crowded and confusing market.
Fiona Wilson, chief executive of George Northwood, said: “We are delighted with the finish of
our packaging from Vetroplas. We are one of the first brands to launch a full range of haircare
into the mass market using aluminium. The print execution supports our commitment to
The Famous Grouse whisky brand has launched a limited-edition label to celebrate the brand’s role as the official sponsor of The British & Irish Lions.
The one-off design sees the iconic label of The Famous Grouse transformed to read ‘The Famous British & Irish Lions’.
Sold exclusively at Tesco from today, the bottle will be available in three variations (35cl, 70cl and 1L) before being distributed to additional retailers and the on-trade from April.
It also forms part of The Famous Grouse The Spirit of Rugby campaign, following the announcement that The Famous Grouse will also be the Official Partner of Premiership Rugby, SA Rugby, and Glasgow Warriors.
Chris Anderson, Head of Edrington Brands, said: “The Famous Grouse has been investing in the sport of rugby for 30 years, and we are very proud to reaffirm our commitment to this great game with the launch of this limited-edition bottle. On sale throughout the British and Irish Lions tour the bottle will enable us to celebrate the pride and camaraderie we see on the rugby pitch every matchday.”
A coalition of companies with a shared vision to close the loop on soft plastics have produced the country’s first ever soft plastic food wrapper made with recycled content for the Kit Kat brand of chocolate bars.
Food grade recycled soft plastic packaging is a key missing link in Australia’s bid to improve waste management and build a circular economy, and the prototype Kit Kat wrapper represents Australia’s opportunity to close the loop on recycling soft plastics.
The coalition of companies consists of Nestle, CurbCycle, iQ Renew, Licella, Viva Energy Australia, LyondellBasell, REDcycle, Taghleef Industries and Amcor – all of whom brought their individual expertise to the table for the prototype’s creation.
Turning soft plastic back into oil is currently the only path plastic waste can take if it is to be transformed into a food safe wrapper. Unfortunately, this is technology that Australia does not have yet at scale.
“Between us, we have shown that there’s a pathway to solve the soft plastics problem,” said Sandra Martinez, CEO of Nestle Australia.
“To build this at scale, across all states and territories, across hundreds of councils, is going to take a huge effort from government at all levels, from industry and from consumers.
“Manufacturers like Nestle will have a key role in driving demand for food grade recycled soft plastic packaging, and creating market conditions that will ensure all stakeholders throughout the value chain view soft plastics as a resource and not waste.”
The initiative emerged from a trial underway on the NSW Central Coast, where Australian Recycler iQ Renew and Nestle are working together on a trial of kerbside collection of soft plastics.
These collected plastics, together with plastics collected via REDcycle supermarket soft plastic collection, formed the starting point for the project.
To date, soft plastics collected in Australia have been made into products like outdoor furniture, added to road base or used in waste to energy.
“To improve the recycling rate of soft plastics, kerbside collection is an important point of convenience,” explains Danial Gallagher, CEO of iQ Renew.
“In the trial, soft plastics are collected from kerbside recycling bins in a dedicated bright yellow bag, then sorted from the recycling stream at our MRF.
“To create the Kit Kat wrapper with 30 per cent recycled content, the soft plastics were processed, then sent to Licella for conversion back into the oil from which they originally came. This oil was then used to produce new food grade soft plastics.”
According to Tanya Barden, CEO of the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), learnings from the Central Coast trial will be informative as the AFGC works to develop an extended producer responsibility scheme for hard to recycle plastics, funded by a National Product Stewardship Investment Fund grant.
“Among other things, we’ll be looking at how this model can be scaled up, ensuring there is healthy demand for packaging with recycled content and helping bring to life local industries that can unlock billions of dollars of value that’s currently lost to landfill,” Barden continues.
On 19 March, Nestle will host leaders from across the plastic packaging value chain for a roundtable event, The Wrap on Soft Plastics, exploring the opportunities and hurdles for soft plastics recycling.
McDonald’s recently teamed up with Pearlfisher to rethink its packaging design, with a focus on aesthetic minimalism. We talked with Matt Sia, creative director at Pearlfisher, to get the inside story on the rethink and assess its importance to McDonald’s’ wider brand.
Could you introduce the rebrand to us and unpack some of its key features?
Our focus in partnering with McDonald’s was on redesigning their global system of packaging. What we created is a system led by thoughtful, colourful illustrations of every menu item. Transitioning from a design system with prominent on-pack messaging, the graphic representations of menu items help make each of the structures more connected and evocative of McDonald’s’ playful point-of-view.
No matter the combination of each unique order, from the cool, blue waves on the Filet-O-Fish clamshell or the golden, melting cheese on the Quarter Pounder with Cheese clamshell, the packaging makes for an expressive, visual system.
From McDonald’s’ perspective, what was the reasoning behind the rebrand?
The packaging redesign is part of a broader brand evolution. With so much fresh and new at McDonald’s – from smart kiosks to menu innovations – it made sense for the global packaging to change in step with the direction the brand is taking.
We took into consideration how we could support the renewed brand identity to foster a feel-good experience that works around the world. No matter the region or language, we wanted the packaging design to communicate joyful moments while being immediate and universal.Expand
What feelings did you want to convey with the new packaging?
We were very excited to have the opportunity to design the innate joy of the McDonald’s brand back into the packaging by allowing each unique menu item to speak for itself. The packaging became a creative space to showcase the specialness of the menu and the brand.
What we created is about delighting customers. It’s about bringing them into the playfulness of the McDonald’s brand through the packaging, while also providing the crew with a design system that is easy to navigate and work with, no matter where you are in the world.
The new look you’ve created seems to favour a more minimalist style, which is a trend that we’ve seen proliferating in brand design over the past few years. In your view, in the context of branding as a whole, what has motivated this trend?
A sense of ease and simplicity for consumers should be a goal for all brands. With McDonald’s, we focused on what felt the most fitting for their personality – what felt the most natural. This is what led to the joy and simplicity of the graphic expression, rather than being driven by style or trend.
It’s important for every brand to represent itself in a unique and truly special way, considering the details – especially when the expression is stripped back to its most personable form. The full family of products looks confident and simple now, but it’s because a lot of thought and consideration went into each item.Expand
Above and beyond striking a chord with consumers, we’ve read that another purpose of these design changes was to help McDonald’s employees work more efficiently. Could you break this idea down for us?
While it is playful, the new McDonald’s packaging is easy to understand and easy to navigate. This was important not only for resonating with customers around the world, but also to ensure that the redesigned packs didn’t add any new complexities for the crew assembling orders in restaurants.
The graphics-led system we created is identifiable on every wrap, clamshell, carton, and pack, making continued efficiency a guarantee, not a possibility.
How does this packaging rebrand fit into McDonald’s’ overall brand refresh?
This new packaging redesign lives seamlessly with the brand identity, as they were created in parallel over the course of four years. The point-of-view and principles hold true across every menu item to make way for a cohesive system that is aesthetically connected, functionally immediate, and emotionally uplifting.
Consistency through visual language from brand identity to packaging is key – especially for a brand as universal as this – and we were able to design a joyful, simple way forward for McDonald’s’ global system.
The Magical Mushroom Company (MMC) has announced the launch of large-scale production of its mushroom-derived biodegradable packaging, a plastic-free alternative that can be broken up to biodegrade on a home compost heap or flowerbed.
The company claims that this new packaging offers the same performance, at comparable cost, to traditional polystyrene, and is already being used to protect goods ranging from cookers, to cosmetics and a variety of everyday consumer products, including Diageo’s non-alcoholic gin brand, Seedlip.
This is made possible through mycelium composite technology, pioneered and patented by US firm Ecovative Design LLC. The process takes the post-processing waste from agricultural products such as hemp, hops, corn and timber and combines them with mycelium – the root system of the mushroom. This living material is then grown to shape using 3D moulds of the packaging design. These moulds are baked, hardening the material and preventing any further growth. The full process, from design to prototype takes 14 days.
MMC Holding International LTD, trading as The Magical Mushroom Company, has the exclusive EU, UK and Ireland licence to produce Mushroom® Packaging. Its first facility, in Esher, Surrey, began production in August 2020 and has capacity to produce more than a million packaging units per year. Expand
The business will open a second UK plant in 2021, increasing total production to more than three million units per year. This will be followed by the opening of plants in Bulgaria and Italy, which together will provide production capacity for the EU of more than six million units annually. A third continental European plant (in Germany) will open in 2022.
The company says that packaging produced by MMC is 100% biodegradable at home and breaks down in soil within 40 days. It also fully breaks down in water in just 180 days, meaning it has the long-term potential to significantly reduce the level of plastic waste in our oceans.
MMC is already working with a number of iconic brands that are serious about reducing their environmental impact. Current clients include Lush Cosmetics, Raine Marine, Bodyshop, Seedlip (from the Diageo group) and luxury designer, Tom Dixon.
Paul Gilligan, founder and CEO, commented: “We called ourselves the Magical Mushroom company for a reason. Mycelium’s unique qualities really are magical, enabling us to produce a hard-wearing, cost effective and totally sustainable alternative to polystyrene packaging that biodegrades in the back garden in under 40 days.
“We’re thrilled to be open for business and excited by how quickly we’re scaling up our production and securing ever bigger contracts. Customer feedback has been universally positive and our earliest customers are all – without exception – now coming back for more.”
“With over a decade of experience producing mycelium materials at scale, Ecovative is thrilled to see consumers and brands around the world adopt Mushroom® Packaging,” said Gavin McIntyre, co-founder and Director of Business Development at Ecovative Design. “We are excited to be working with Magical Mushroom Company to further scale this technology and look forward to providing more brands with this breakthrough packaging solution.”
Biomaterials manufacturer Coda Group has launched Solinatra – a home-compostable material made from agricultural waste that the company says can be used to replace plastic and aluminium coffee capsules.
Over 60 billion coffee capsules are consumed globally each year, and many of these are currently made from layers of plastic or aluminium. According to Coda, while most capsules are technically recyclable, only a small proportion actually make their way into recycling streams.
Coda’s own solution is home compostable – reportedly breaking down in the same time frame as a banana skin and leaving behind zero contamination. Manufactured from 100% plant-based materials sourced from agricultural waste products, the company is pitching Solinatra as a low-carbon solution that can help coffee brands and consumers to reach net-zero goals.
Following a presentation and Q&A at the AMI virtual summit, Simon Girdlestone, head of sales and marketing at Coda Group, says: “Biodegrading in the same time as a banana skin, Solinatra is a revolutionary new material. Our innovative new biomaterial is a gamechanger for coffee brands and capsule manufacturers worldwide, and we are excited to lead the charge for truly sustainable production.
“Currently consumers face a postcode lottery as to what recycling or composting opportunities are available to them, with Solinatra customers can be safe in the knowledge that their coffee capsules cause no harm to the environment no matter how they are disposed of.”
We don’t need to remind you, but the beer can is one of the most consequential canvases around. Take a walk around your favorite liquor store—not the 7-Eleven, mind you—and take a gander at the beer cooler. Plenty of craft breweries bring the art gallery to the fridge, and it’s a perfect way for designers to get their work to the masses.
Of course, strategic drinks design agency Thirst Craft is saying “no duh” right this second.
Well, they have an unveiling happening at the beer cooler right now for Brooklyn Brewery’s new Hazy IPA. With clear nods to Warhol and Lichtenstein, the new brew leans heavily on the pop art aesthetic, with plenty of bold black lines and polka dots to boot. The iconic Brooklyn Brewery Badge by Milton Glaser gets a cartoonish makeover, with a wilding-out background of colors matching the fruit segments that wedge themselves into the design. Pulp art, indeed.
Even the visual identity outside of the packaging is a literal exclamation point, whether it’s experienced in your natural environment or on a social media platform. It’s juicy and tropical, the perfect bright-ass balm to get you through these final weeks of winter.
“Thirst really took the time to understand the fundamentals of our brand, which made the project truly collaborative at every point,” commented Samantha Itzkovitz, VP of marketing at Brooklyn Brewery, in a press release. “Thirst knows how to identify the sweet spot where fun and engaging branding meets consumer need and market opportunity, which is arguably the biggest challenge when it comes to developing new brands these days. They were a joy to work with every step of the way.”
“To us and the world, Brooklyn has never been just another brewery,” added Matt Burns, Thirst creative director and founder. “It’s a true product of its neighborhood: spirited, creative, authentic. So we knew when we got this brief, it could never be ‘just another’ hazy IPA. We needed to give it the Brooklyn twist. When we landed on the name, ‘Pulp Art,’ we saw the opportunity to mash up two New York icons. One wanted to democratize art, and the other wanted to democratize Hazy IPAs. It was a perfect match. With such a strong core idea, we could have so much fun with the brand. And we did.”
Anyway, if you ever wanted to know what a Milton Glaser logo would look like if it went through a pop art filter, this is likely what you’d get. And it’s a bright, bold, and incredibly playful addition to your beer cozy
New technology permits ingredient printing on cup sidewalls, which will expand product and market capabilities to fuel growth for the “waterless beverages”.
A waterless beverage seems an oxymoron, but Smart Cups has made that incongruous concept a reality for optimized sustainable packaging. Billed as “the world’s first printed beverage,” the brand employs 20 and operates out of a 23,000 square foot facility in Mission Viejo, CA, and was the subject of a January 2020 interview with Packaging Digest.
Chris Kanik, chief excitement officer, aka founder and CEO, enthusiastically responded to a request for a 2021 progress report, which yielded answers referencing expectations he had a year ago as well as new plans.
As companies worldwide were blindsided by the pandemic then, Smart Cups also adjusted course over the ensuing months. However, the company has successfully weathered the storm and is positioned for dramatic growth driven by continued developments in technology and finding additional market opportunities.
What’s the state of Smart Cups these past months?
Kanik: When the COVID-19 pandemic began, we switched some of our production capabilities to produce hand sanitizer, helping fill a critical need for frontline workers. This also helped keep our employees working during a government-induced economic shutdown. We were able to produce and distribute more than 70,000 bottles of hand sanitizer to the Orange County Fire Authority, Orange County municipalities, local hospitals, first responders, veterinarians, and homeless shelters.
From a business perspective, I am very thankful to say that our sales have increased over the past year and we’ve increased consumer awareness through various announcements and partnerships.
You intended to add capacity and automation to increase your output this year, did that happen?
Kanik: The COVID-19 pandemic affected our supply chain and caused some delays from key parts’ manufacturers. That said, we have had successful tests of our increased production equipment and are expecting to have it all installed and implemented within the next few months.
This new method of printing will replace our current method and increase our capabilities from thousands to millions of cups.
Did you expand ingredient printing to the cup sidewall in addition to the cup bottom as planned?
Kanik: The COVID-19 pandemic affected our supply chain and caused some delays from key parts’ manufacturers. That said, we have had successful tests of our increased production equipment and are expecting to have it all installed and implemented within the next few months.
This new method of printing will replace our current method and increase our capabilities from thousands to millions of cups.
Did you expand ingredient printing to the cup sidewall in addition to the cup bottom as planned?
Kanik: It will once our new system is implemented. With the ability to print on the cup sides and bottoms, we will have more surface area and can print more complex formulas, enhance flavor profiles, increase shelf life, and improve dissolve times.
As well, we will be able to print various types of materials and different cup sizes. We are all very excited about the future iteration of our manufacturing technology.
Did you change or add different cup substrates or sizes?
Kanik: In November 2020, we introduced our family-friendly and caffeine-free beverage option, Refreshers. The idea of Refreshers was inspired by my wife and children; we’re always on the go and are constantly looking for healthy options for our kids to enjoy. My kids have always wanted to try Smart Cups, but couldn’t because of the caffeine.
Perfect for families on the go, Smart Cups Refreshers have zero sugar, are naturally sweetened with Stevia, contain 5 calories, 1 carbohydrate, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, are vegan and eco-friendly. Refreshers are available in two exciting flavors, Strawberry Watermelon and Sour Apple.
Once our new printing system is implemented, we will expand our portfolio even more, by adding new flavor substrates and cup sizes, as well as print on various types of surfaces.
We’re also working on launching personal hygiene products, probiotics, some pain relief projects and are continuing to optimize our alcohol printing, which will all further solidify our goal of making sustainability at home possible.
Our current offerings are printed on polylactic acid (PLA) cups sourced from Fabri-Kal. Other materials will be coming within the next 12-24 months.
Were you able to secure the licensing agreements you sought?
Kanik: We are in conversations with some of the largest consumer product companies and are working on several projects where Smart Cups’ technology will be applied to their existing SKUs for a number of everyday product categories.
The sustainability value Smart Cups offers companies that are serious about their impact on the environment is incredibly impactful. Scientific research confirms that these sustainable practices would have a tremendously positive impact on the environment if Smart Cups’ technology becomes widely adopted throughout different industries. For example, a truck that can carry 96,000 cans of soda can instead carry 1.2 million Smart Cups, thanks to the stackable design and elimination of water in transportation. We’re hopeful to achieve adoption and commercialization by multinational companies within the next 18-24 months.
Did you see the demographic shift from female to male that you anticipated?
Kanik: Through 2020 and into 2021, we’ve seen that our core demographic remains women.
That said, we partnered with Mike Tyson ahead of his big fight this year which translated to an increase in male purchasers. Smart Cups serves world-class athletes, from boxing to surfing, rugby, football, basketball and beyond — so it’s exciting to see more and more men adopt Smart Cups.
Are there any plans to reach potential new markets such as hospitals, stadiums, schools, and cafeterias?
Kanik: Yes, we are planning to reach all these new markets in the near future. We are also looking at international markets as we continue to expand our reach.
Is there anything else happening this year?
Kanik: Stay tuned for exciting things from Smart Cups in 2021. We are committed to disrupting not just the beverage industry, but all consumer product industries by reimagining the way consumables are manufactured, packaged, and transported.
We’ve partnered with UCLA’s Institute of Environment and Sustainability to investigate how Smart Cups technology will impact the environment. According to that research, Smart Cups can ship a beverage volume of more than 600% compared to aluminum cans. This means Smart Cups is leading a very aggressive strategy to help the beverage industry reduce its transportation gas emissions by 40-fold, and to help reach the net-zero emissions status.
Brand looked to a bolder scheme to reawaken interest for its sleep-supporting ice cream in a crowded freezer section.
There are few things better for your health than a good night’s sleep. Yet that natural act proves elusive for many whether caused by physical or mental conditions.
Supplements such as melatonin have provided relief to many, but a new option was introduced in 2019 when game-changing Nightfood debuted a market-first sleep-friendly food. Besides jumpstarting a new category, it earned product of the year honors in the ice cream category.
The emerging market quickly took off as major brands like Pepsi followed with sleep-friendly snacks and drinks.
There are few things better for your health than a good night’s sleep. Yet that natural act proves elusive for many whether caused by physical or mental conditions.
Supplements such as melatonin have provided relief to many, but a new option was introduced in 2019 when game-changing Nightfood debuted a market-first sleep-friendly food. Besides jumpstarting a new category, it earned product of the year honors in the ice cream category.https://4884b348b5af6c4e09b5031946cc6339.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
The emerging market quickly took off as major brands like Pepsi followed with sleep-friendly snacks and drinks.Nightfood/Packaging Digest
“Better-for-you-snacking has been a powerful trend for years and now sleep is moving to the forefront as well,” Sean Folkson, Nightfood CEO, tells Packaging Digest. “Those two powerful trends are now combining, as consumers are starting to get the message from the media about the critical impact sleep quality has on overall health, performance, mood, energy levels…really every aspect of our lives is directly impacted by sleep quality.”
Brands also get it, too.
“We see Pepsi moving in with the new Driftwell sleep-supporting beverage,” Folkson says, “and we hear rumblings from other global food and beverage players like Nestlé and Mondelez. Because a large number of consumers snack regularly shortly before bed, the category of sleep-friendly snacking was inevitable.”
With more competition in a fast-changing landscape, Nightfood decided it was time to invigorate the packaging design that’s currently in a soft rollout introduction.Nightfood
It starts with a re-assessment of the unique product’s attributes.
“We’re the only company addressing nighttime snacking in this way,” says Folkson. “There are tons of companies making snacks that are generally healthier and ‘better for you’. Yet with a significant percentage of snacking taking place between dinner and bed, none of those other healthy snack companies has ever addressed sleep quality through nutrition.
“We enlisted a team of leading sleep and nutrition experts, leading sleep doctors and sleep researchers, that are involved in decisions regarding our recipes, formulations, and ingredients.”
It stacks up well as a healthy alternative to ice cream, with about 90% less fat, 70% less sugar, and 50% more protein.
Notably, Nightfood is high in fiber, typical ice cream has none. Fiber, Folkson points out, “helps with satiety, blood sugar levels, digestion, and with sleep.”Nightfood
Nightime decided on a two-prong approach to attract a wider swath of consumers.
“With the new design, we wanted to convey nighttime and sleep both directly and indirectly,” says Folkson. “The nighttime blue color should ‘block’ very powerfully on-shelf. That’s important because many brands have gone to the pastel look, with each flavor carrying a different hue. That was how our previous packaging was, and it would tend to get ‘washed out’ on shelf. Each illustrated monster now has more of a nighttime feel, with drowsy monster eyes and face. It’s a great look, bold, powerful, and clearly communicates our primary point of differentiation: Sleep-friendly.”
The targeted consumer is as hard to pin down as last night’s dream.
“People who love us don’t necessarily have a persona or demographics in common, but they have a behavior in common,” says Folkson. “They have a ‘why’ in common. Our target consumer is one who snacks at night with ice cream in their rotation. To get a bit more granular, they believe that what you eat matters and they would prefer better sleep…which is just about everybody these days.”
Further challenging things is that the ice cream section has colorfully proliferated.
“Many of the newer ice creams have been moving towards a color-by-the-flavor pint,” says Folkson. “We wanted to stand out by being big and bold, and the dark blue carton can dominate the shelf. Because we know most pint ice cream is consumed at night, it’s a natural fit to have sleep-friendly ice cream in the pint section.”
On top of what the main color brings to the brand, it also communicates the brand message and the usage occasion.
However, it’s the big, bold, and playful text that screams SLEEP FRIENDLY front and center on the packaging that’s by far the biggest element.
“It’s the one key thing we want the consumer to connect with in that first millisecond,” adds Folkson. “We think we’ve done enough to command their attention.”
He gives a great deal of credit to the OffWhite Co. design team, which redesigned Chobani yogurt packaging to help lift sales from $30 million to more than $1 billion and to the #1 category position in less than four years.
“They came up with this platform, and everything came together pretty smoothly,” says Folkson. “We wanted one key message on the front panel, and things flowed from there. Nailing down the font for the words Sleep Friendly was probably the toughest challenge, and I really like what we were able to land that through trial and discovery.”Nightfood
Nightfood lids make a favorable impression when the pints are held.
Another aspect that was improved were the lids, which Folkson describes as fun and cute. “They make an impression when a consumer holds a pint in their hands.”
Notably, the redesign is gaining attention as the product’s soft rollout progresses across the country.
“The feedback on the new packaging has been great from our category managers and consumers alike,” offers Folkson. “When the new design hits shelves in Walmart and major supermarket chains around the country, we expect it to be a big hit with consumers!”
AG Barr, the maker of IRN-BRU and Rubicon, has announced that all its soft drink consumer multipacks will be wrapped in 100% recycled shrink wrap by the end of 2021.
This move is projected to save 400 tonnes of virgin plastic a year – the weight of about 250 cars.
IRN-BRU is the first AG Barr brand to make the switch to 100% recycled wrap across its can multipacks, with the new pack set to hit shelves from May. In terms of primary packaging, all of the company’s soft drinks packaging is already recyclable.
Following this step, AG Barr’s entire portfolio of soft drinks will use 100% recycled printed film by the end of 2021, so IRN-BRU will be joined by other brands including Barr Flavours and Rubicon.
Roger White, AG Barr’s chief executive, said: “We’re always looking for ways to make our products more sustainable and we’re delighted to introduce this new 100% recycled film which has half the carbon footprint of its virgin plastic equivalent.
“This is just one step towards our longer-term carbon neutral ambition, ensuring we play our part in reducing the effects of climate change on our planet.”
