Better designs are in the hands of consumers

02-Mar-2015 - Last updated on 30-Mar-2015 at 15:51 GMT

Wiggins: Consumer pressure is needed

Brands should focus on broader, inclusive packaging design, rather than designing for the elderly - and might already be doing this, if consumers complained more often about the packs they were given, a seminar will hear this month

Packaging which is difficult to open, and labels which are difficult to read, are a problem for consumers of all ages and backgrounds, said consultant and former pack designer for Nestlé David Wiggins.

He explained: “It’s in consumers’ hands to pressure the supply chain into doing a better job. We have developed all sorts of coping mechanisms which allow the supply chain to design packs which could be better.

“The industry will continue to base decisions on cost, unless they’re pushed to do otherwise.”

Wiggins will chair a March 10 seminar on The Packaging Innovation Challenges of an Ageing Population held by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) in London.

Head of policy at Age UK Jane Vass, who will be speaking at the event, points to Marks & Spencer (M&S) as an example of a retailer which has worked harder than most in this area.

Supply chain innovation

“It’s a question of how far up the supply chain the innovation goes,” she said. “Someone like M&S has greater control over its supply chain.” Others were more reliant on standardised packaging, she suggested.

In research carried out for Age UK in 2012, around three-quarters of a sample of 530 over-50s said that ease of opening was ‘important’ or ‘moderately important’ in their food and clothing purchase decisions. Nearly one third thought that on-pack information was unclear.

Vass cited cans (including supposedly ‘easy-open’ ring-pulls), beverage cartons and sealed plastics (including ‘vacuum seals’) as examples of packs which were often still difficult to access.

As the Rica research and testing institute recently explained to Food Manufacture, a CEN technical specification for testing ease-of-opening has existed since 2011. “But there’s a big challenge in getting this into the mainstream,” Vass admitted.

Huge task

Would it make sense to introduce a system of marks or endorsements for inclusive or accessible packaging? “That would be lovely, but it would be a huge task to co-ordinate that,” she said.

“Brand-owners haven’t got their head around the fact that this is a corporate social responsibility question,” said Wiggins. “It’s about adding value, not reducing costs. Age is just a number. It’s really about capability. We badge things for older people, and it becomes monstrously stigmatising.”

If packaging design is made inclusive, for all ages and abilities, it automatically includes older consumers, he explained.