Jan 13 2010
2010 Packaging Trends #4 “Fair” Miles Not Far Miles
The average consumer doesn’t have a clue what it takes to bring a product to market for them to use or consume. They just see packaging as a waste. So when it comes to buzz phrases like “carbon footprint they become wholeheartedly embraces without and understanding of what goes on behind the scenes.
This can encompass every thing from “locality” to understanding the true manufacturing costs such as “carbon footprint” or transportation miles. Many consumers are willing to make educated and informed decisions about what they purchase and from where. So let’s tell the true store about what it takes to live our current lifestyles and explain more thoroughly what these phrase mean.
Recent Examples
Tesco already displays “carbon reduction” labels as part of their packaging on certain products. New “green” food labels will show how much carbon was produced in the manufacture and transportation of food.
Another concept is a wrapper somewhat similar to a barcode that gives you the actual statistics and a printed receipt that spells mileage out exactly. These numbers can be somewhat scary but in a global economy not all that uncommon. If fact many economy’s are built around alternative shipping seasons such as Chilean produce shipped to the US during our winter. (It’s their summer)
This is a conceptual idea only not in actual use.
Far Foods (way too far according to this)
Use the fact that your products are grown locally as a marketing and branding tool like theses examples that cover a broad range of locally grown products identified by a specific geographic area.
When buying close to home counts in the consumers eyes.
Of course if you have plenty of money to spend you can launch a branding campaign like FritoLay supporting its potato chips as a “locally” grown brand. You scan a special code on the packaging and find out where your potatoes were actually grown. Check out how it works with their chip tracker tool @ http://www.fritolay.com/lays/chip-tracker.html
Grown locally, transportation miles, carbon footprint and food miles will continue to be a hot issue as people become more aware of using resources more effectively. Make sure they understand the correct and true role of product packaging in bringing products to the consumer not juts clever buzz phrases and media hype.
Packaging Phrases And News To Watch For in 2010:
- Transportation Miles
- Carbon Footprint
- Carbon Reduction Labels
- Locality
- Locavore
- Food Miles
- Ethical Consumption
- Cradle-To-Cradle
- Environmental Footprint
- Sustainable Consumption
One response so far
One Response to “2010 Packaging Trends #4 “Fair” Miles Not Far Miles”
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There’s so much good possible in informed choice, especially empowering consumers to ‘vote’ with their wallets.
However… I have to say that, even looking at the few above, I really haven’t a clue what I’d make of it all (especially if/when allied with all the health stuff already being trialled).
Hence what an average consumer would with, let’s face it, a time poor few minutes to stride the aisles… lord alone knows!
I think it was Walkers who were in early with a 75g off Co2 per pack. But what does that mean? And am I going to head from Morrisons to Waitrose because McCoys is 69?
It is asking a lot.
Speaking of which, I merely ask… is there a standard yet? Last I heard there were several extant, being trialled and/or coming… and no real sense of continuity.
I fully appreciate the value of boxes, trust me, but have an eyebrow-ready when there’s a hint they are more being ticked, and not necessarily to get a good enviROI!