Desjardin Blog - EN

Food choices don't seem to require much analysis because everyone is an expert on what their favorite foods are. The question is: can packaging designers come up with designs that sway consumers to buy foods they haven't tried before? That's an area of consumer research that hasn't been explored much. But here are some ideas on what designers should be thinking about in terms of how lifestyles and perceptions of consumers play a role in their food choices.

Millennial consumers exhibit different buying patterns than other age groups. Before and through the pandemic the majority of millennials have more concern for improving society than getting rich. In order to reach an individual of this demographic and mindset, the packaging should reflect values of efficiency, eco-friendliness and public safety.

Recycling is a process that is used in countless industries and is steadily being used more commonly in goods produced today. Recycling is the process of turning waste into usable material. In the packaging industry material is often reused and recycled, which can substantially cut down on the amount of new material and energy that needs to be used to produce more packaging. Three of the most common materials used in the packaging industry are plastic, tin, and aluminium. Studies have shown that recycling aluminum uses 95% less energy than needed to produce new material and recycling plastic saves 76% of the energy [1,2]. This difference is caused by a variety of reasons, like the energy cost to transport, sort, and recycle each product.

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) outbreak has caused many people to reevaluate priorities in their lives. One main priority that has arisen is the public’s awareness of their health and importance of protecting themselves and their family. One study found that 62% of families are actively concerned about contracting coronavirus [1].

In these times SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is on the forefront of everyone’s mind. The impacts can be seen in almost every industry, including packaging. COVID-19 is spread through bodily fluids, like respiratory droplets, which can be transferred to surfaces that come in contact with multiple people. It may be possible for COVID-19 to be contracted by touching a surface with the virus living on it and then touching one’s own mouth, nose, or eyes [2,4]. This is particularly a concern for packaging, as products transfer between multiple people and are continually in use. This begs the question: what is the best packaging material to use in the time of COVID-19? While there is no concrete, guaranteed answer, aluminum and tinplate have shown promising qualities in multiple ways. 

Optimizing a supply chain for sustainability is an efficient way for companies to reduce their environmental footprint while increasing long term profits. By 2025 almost two billion people are expected to become global consumers, a 75 percent increase over 2010. This will require increased transport within supply chains, ultimately causing more greenhouse gas production. Sustainable supply chains focus on improving efficiency throughout the entire process, with a strong focus on reducing waste/CO2 production and improving communication. These waste products directly contribute to global warming, which is a worldwide issue leading to a host of further problems. In the metal packaging world a few key components that are focused to improve sustainability are overall production efficiency, location raw materials are sourced from, transportation, and sales. Companies that focus on sustainably optimizing these aspects of their supply chain can expect to see a host of effects relating to their company cost, product cost, and environmental impact.

Sustainable supply-chain optimization is the process of ensuring that all aspects of the supply chain, from manufacturing to sales, are being done in the most optimal and energy efficient way [1]. This is an integral part of any manufacturing company and is especially true in the metal packaging industry. In the past metal packaging has been seen as an energy intensive and non-emissions friendly process, but this is no longer true. With an optimized supply chain and higher rates of recycling metal packaging is actually a more carbon emission friendly process than plastic packaging. A sustainably optimized supply chain produces 1.87 tonnes of CO2-e per tonne of aluminium and 2.2 tonnes of CO2-e per tonne of plastic produced [2,3]. This is an easy way for companies looking to reduce their carbon footprint to make a change. For a supply chain to be sustainably optimized there are a few areas that need to be reviewed: overall production efficiency, the metal packaging supplier, transportation, and sales.

Energy is used in every process on earth, from moving an arm to building a skyscraper. The energy for these processes comes from different sources, like from eating food for processes in the human body and burning fossil fuels to power construction. In addition to processes requiring different types of energy, they also require different amounts.

Perishable products are described as goods that have a short lifetime or easily deteriorate. This includes things like fresh foods, dairy products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals [1]. This is important to keep in mind when designing packaging for perishables as they have a larger risk of spoiling than non perishable products. Furthermore, perishable products are typically consumed or used on the body, so they regularly come into contact with sensitive areas. These issues lead to perishables posing real health risks for consumers when they are improperly packaged. Governments work to prevent these health risks by implementing regulations on the requirements for packaging, storage, and shipping of perishable products.