SAUCE OF INSPIRATION

One jar of tomato pasta sauce can look much like another. Unilever was using the same ‘egg’ shaped jar for many of its sauce ranges across Europe – which was cost effective but meant the different brands lacked identity. Unilever wanted to raise the profile and quality perceptions of its Knorr Ragu sauce.

 

Design Bridge decided to focus its structural design around the tomato. The London-based design consultancy created a trademarked shaped jar that helps Knorr Ragu stand out on shelf and communicates that the sauce is packed with tomatoes. Head of 3D structural branding and packaging Nick Verebelyi says that Design Bridge considered plastic and glass for the jar, but decided to stick with glass because of its superior potential to create a unique shape and its quality cues.

 

However, he says there can be resistance to creating such a challenging shape for a high volume item. With high volume FMCG price is key. With a shape like the Ragu jar it is going to be more expensive; you do need to use more material, he says.

 

Verebelyi adds that there can be other constraints. You need to put a label on the jar, which means it can only curve in one direction. You can’t put a label on a ball. For this reason, the ‘tomato’ in the middle of the Ragu jar is not spherical.

 

The bottom of the jar is also embellished with embossed tomatoes. Sales and brand recognition increased significantly after the redesign.

 

O-I returns to baby bottle production

Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 26 November 2008

 

Glass packaging firm O-I has started manufacturing baby's bottles in the US for the first time in 20 years.

 

O-I said that concerns over the impact of Bisphenol A (BPA) in some plastic bottles had led to increased demand for glass bottles in North America and that a similar trend was being seen in Europe.

 

The sector has been keen to promote glass as packaging that makes food "taste the way nature intended" and O-I said the trend towards organic and natural foods had led some manufacturers to turn back to glass.

 

Dominique Tombeur, O-I Europe vice president for marketing and communication, said: "While we support breastfeeding as undoubtedly the best option, many mothers are not able to feed their baby in this way. Glass has been trusted by generations of mothers and can be safe for generations to come."

 

UK childcare retailer Mothercare told Packaging News that glass baby bottle sales were low – about 1% of sales – but that it had taken the view to offer choice enabling customers to make informed decisions.

 

Mothercare said that all its polycarbonate-based bottles comply with the current UK and European legislation on BPA levels, and it also sells polypropylene bottles that were free from BPA.

 

Next year, it is set to launch a wide-neck bottle made from PP, while Tommee Tippee and Avent are also due to introduce BPA-free bottles.

 

Mothercare has published information about baby's feeding bottles to address parents' concerns surrounding BPA via its website and a leaflet.