An article about how food and drink companies will need to adapt packaging to more affluent older consumers.

1. feature packaging
A bad
38 | The Grocer | 25 January 2014www.thegrocer.co.uk

2. Older consumers are one
of the most affluent
consumer demographics
and the fastest-growing,
so why isn’t the food and
drink industry doing
more to help them open
food packaging?
Simon Creasey
T
hey call it ‘wrap rage’. We’ve all been
there. It’s the moment when you find
yourself unable to open a piece of packaging, the red mist descends and you
resort to attacking the jar, can or bag
with whatever sharp – and potentially lethal – implement you have at your disposal.
In an exclusive survey of 800 members of the marketing, packaging and grocery industry undertaken
by easyFairs on behalf of The Grocer (see p42), 74%
of respondents admitted they had been so frustrated
by a pack that they’d been forced to take a knife to it
(14% admitting using a screwdriver and 9% pliers!)
Furthermore, 63% of respondents claimed they’d
injured themselves in the process.
If it’s bad enough for grocery professionals, the
challenge is amplified 10-fold for the nation’s rapidly
expanding older population. According to a survey
undertaken by Grannynet in June last year, 80% of
older respondents admitted having issues with packaging, with one angry survey respondent commenting:
“You need a degree to get into some packages!”
The numbers should serve as a warning to the industry that more needs to be done to address this issue.
Yet to date few inroads have been made, leaving an
increasingly exasperated older population reaching for
the knife drawer. So why are so many companies still
sitting on their hands and what are the potential dangers of continuing to ignore this problem?
While there have undoubtedly been plenty of other
pressing issues to address, the industry seems to have
relegated packaging openability way down its list of
priorities over the past few years. The upshot is
wrap
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25 January 2014 | The Grocer | 39

3. feature packaging
Packaging villains
Corned beef cans
Corned beef packaging
hasn’t changed for years
and nor have levels of
irritation as consumers
struggle to gain access.
“Corned beef cans with
square corners are one
of the most frustrating
forms of packaging
on the market today,
rendering can openers
and traditional ringpulls
ineffective and leaving
limited alternatives for
easy opening,” says
Gillian Garside-Wright,
packaging technology
director at Your
Packaging Partner.
Easy-peel packs
Despite supposedly
being easier to open,
many consumers still
have to resort to running
a knife around the edge
of ‘easy-peel’ packs of
ham, cheese and bacon
to access the contents,
says Garside-Wright.
“Time and effort have
been invested to improve
this packaging by all
stakeholders. However,
there is a fine line
between easy-open and
ensuring the product
is protected, preserved
and contained within the
packaging,” she adds.
that shelves remain full of fiendishly tricky packaging and we’re not just talking vein-poppingly difficult
screw top glass jars – as the above examples show,
ringpull cans and even supposedly easy-peel packs
can prove problematic.
It seems an astonishing oversight on the industry’s
part given that the spending power of the worst affected
demographic is only set to increase. In the next 25 years,
the number of people aged 60 or over in the UK is projected to rise by 50% [ONS 2011]. Over a similar period
– 2010 to 2030 – the net contribution of over 65s to the
UK economy is expected to grow from £40bn to £77bn
[WRVS 2011 Gold Age Pensioners report].
The problem is not lack of awareness, argues David
Howlett, director at MMR Research Worldwide. “The
issue of openability is one that is recognised by many
brand owners,” he contends. “However, the costs associated with changing packaging to one that is easier to
open are often a barrier, especially given that the potential sales benefits can only be estimated.”
It’s a view shared by Mike Leahy, planning director
of Leahy Brand Design. “Marketers of everyday mainstream brands have not been convinced or able to convince their CFO and CEOs of the value of inclusive pack
structure innovation,” he believes. “This debate will be
around trial growth, brand building and increased rsp,
offsetting tooling and potential packaging on-cost.”
Part of the challenge facing packaging specifiers is
that when this cost debate takes place within many
retailers and fmcg groups, the tendency is to view the
Flow-wrap packs
Although Mondelez may
have hit the jackpot with
its new Flake ‘peel and
seal’ solution, research
undertaken by Leahy
Brand Design found that
flow-wrap that doesn’t
have an ‘easy-peel
reseal’ option frustrates
consumers. Mike Leahy,
the company’s planning
director, says that
the worst offenders
mentioned by consumers
in the research were
“grapes in punnets and
Warburtons flatbreads
– both were mentioned
specifically”.
“Marketers
have not been
convinced
or able to
convince
their CEOs of
the value of
inclusive pack
structure
innovation”
Mike Leahy, Leahy
Brand Design
Ringpulls
In the main, ringpulls
have helped consumers
who struggle to operate
unwieldy can openers.
However, notes Leahy,
on some shallow tins
containing products
such as tuna, sardines
and anchovies “we
are fearful of cutting
ourselves by complete
removal of the lid so we
resort to extracting the
remaining product with
a fork, which results in
an inconvenient and
unsightly presentation of
the food when it reaches
the plate”.
Sharing bags
Premium crisp brands
in sharing bags are
particularly problematic
for many users, according
to research from Leahy
Brand Design. “There’s
a huge force needed
to grip the top of the
bags and prise the foil
seal apart,” says Leahy.
“If you don’t resort to
scissors, you risk an
explosion of crisps.” In
addition to sharing bags,
many consumers admit
to struggling to opening
individual bags of crisps
as they find it difficult to
get a grip on the packs.
expense as a production cost. However, packaging
expert Lars Wallentin, who worked for Nestlé for 40
years and is due to speak about packaging efficiency
at next month’s Packaging Innovations show, argues
that companies should view investment in packaging
to enhance openability as a different kind of expenditure altogether.
“If you do something that’s truly outstanding you
will get a lot of free publicity, because people like to
write and talk about these kinds of things, so for me
packaging developments of this nature should be seen
as a marketing investment,” he says.
Potential downsides
It is, of course, reductive to talk about this issue just
in terms of cost implications. As Chris Peach, research
director at Marketing Sciences points out, while designing an easy-to-open pack may address one problem, it
potentially raises other issues.
“If a pack is too easy to open, it can cause concerns
that the product could have been tampered with before
you have picked it off the shelf,” says Peach. “It is also
important to have well sealed packaging to create confidence that your product is fresh. Reducing the amount
of packaging or failing to provide an adequate seal in
between uses will make consumers think that the produce is less fresh, potentially impact on taste and quality impressions and ultimately reduce their desire to
buy the product again.”
Clearly, completely revamping the packaging
40 | The Grocer | 25 January 2014www.thegrocer.co.uk

4. feature packaging
The open and shut case for easy-open packs
Which of the following have you used to open packs?
Scissors
80%
Knife
74%
Teeth
47%
Cloth
24%
Screwdriver
15%
Pliers
Do you think
consumers actively
look for easy-toopen packaging?
■ Yes
■ No
73%
27%
Are packaging
and brands doing
enough for an
ageing population?
■ Yes
■ No
23%
77%
Which age group
do you think easyto-open packaging
appeals to the most?
■ Under 21
■ 22-34
■ 35-44
■ 45-54
■ 55-64
■ 65-74
■ Over 75
6%
11%
12%
12%
16%
26%
17%
What type of
packaging do
you think is the
most frustrating
to get into?
■ Hidden film wrap 33%
■ Clamshell
24%
■ Pull-here tabs
13%
■ Child-safety
11%
■ Gable top cartons 10%
■ Ringpulls
7%
■ Orbit easy jam jars 1%
9%
Have you ever used
a separate tool to
open packaging?
88%
12%
■ Yes
■ No
Have you ever
injured yourself
trying to open
packaging?
64%
36%
■ Yes
■ No
On a scale of 1-10 (1
being low), where do
you think designers
rank openability
as a priority within
packaging design?
■ 1
■ 2
■ 3
■ 4
■ 5
■ 6
■ 7
■ 8
■ 9
■ 10
1%
5%
14%
17%
22%
16%
15%
8%
1.3%
0.7%
Do you think
the openability
of a product
affects consumer
purchasing
decisions?
■ Yes
■ No
Source: a survey of 800 packaging, marketing and grocery industry
members, conducted exclusively for The Grocer by easyFairs.
68%
31%
of a product is a significant financial risk for brand
owners both in terms of the outlay on creating the new
packaging structure and the potential for lost sales if it
doesn’t go down well with shoppers. However, to date,
all the brands that have set out to make their packs easier to open appear to have reaped the rewards of their
endeavours (see page 44).
Take Duerr’s, for example, a case study commonly
cited by packaging pundits. The company introduced
an easy-open lid on its jars in 2011 after reading horror
stories about the lengths some customers resorted to to
open the company’s products.
Marketing and sales director Richard Duerr says
that the cost to the business of using the lids is around
£100,000 a year, but he believes that it’s been worth
the outlay both in terms of sales performance and the
positive response from customers. “The feedback that
we’ve had has been tremendous,” says Duerr. “People
have written letters to us saying that we’ve made their
lives easier and that they’re going to continue buying
our jam because our jars are easy to open.”
Mondelez has scored a similar success with the
updated flow-wrap packaging on its Cadbury Flake.
“The ‘peel and reveal’ pack is easier for consumers
to open and keeps the product fresh for longer,” says
Mondelez International trade communications manager Susan Nash.
Different approaches
While some companies have deliberately set out to
address an issue with their packaging identified by
consumers, others have happened across a solution
by accident. This was the case for Birds Eye when it
launched new resealable bags of peas in 2010 with a
zip-lock closure.
According to Radka Martinez, packaging development manager at Birds Eye Iglo, the main objective of
the new bags was to keep the peas fresh, but the company quickly realised that the consumers were enjoying additional benefits from the new packs, “one of
which was the zip-lock system itself”.
“It’s very easy and intuitive for the consumer to use
and it addresses the needs of the ageing population as
well – the zip is bright red in colour so it’s easy to see,
it is sturdy and reliable and works every time.”
While some businesses are looking at openability
issues on a case-by-case basis, others are not just looking at individual products or categories in isolation,
they are intent on adopting a company-wide approach.
The business that arguably leads the way in this
regard is Nestlé, which in 2009 introduced a new
approach to its packaging needs called ‘inclusive
design’ (ID) that puts the consumer at the centre of
packaging development from an early stage, according
to Pierre-Etienne Hannecart, packaging and purchasing advisor for Nestlé.
“Inclusive design is a process used among all the
product categories that provides a holistic approach,”
he explains. “It covers the whole packaging journey,
making sure that all the potential interactions between
the consumer and the packaging are covered, from
shopping to consumption and disposal. Interactions,
such as easy opening of course, but also reading, handling and reclosing, must be taken just as seriously.
42 | The Grocer | 25 January 2014www.thegrocer.co.uk

5. feature packaging
Some suppliers
have spent a
lot of time and
money revising
their packs to
make them
easier to open.
So who are
the industry
heroes and
what cuttingedge packaging
solutions are
they using?
Packaging heroes...
Birds Eye
Initially introduced to
help retain the freshness
of peas and prevent
frozen peas spilling out
of the bag and lining the
bottom of consumers’
freezers, Birds Eye’s
zip-lock resealable bag
proved so successful
following its launch in
2010 that in December
2013 it expanded the ziplock to more of its garden
peas and petits pois.
Birds Eye’s packaging
development manager
Radka Martinez says it is
investing more every year
in packaging RD.
Inclusive is challenging as no consumer must be
excluded: one solution must fit all.”
This work has already borne fruit on the openability front with revamps to coffee jars and some of the
company’s chocolate packaging. And that’s just the
start. A Nestlé spokesman says that “more work is
going on across many of our brands to implement ID
philosophy”.
Yet, although this approach is evidently working
for Nestlé, few other organisations are following its
lead and tackling openability in a head-on way, notes
Wallentin. “What you need to solve the problem is
creativity, but creativity has gone out of the window
because it’s all written in the guidelines these days and
guidelines cannot solve problems,” he says.
“I’m not against guidelines – you need them – but
they’re usually badly written and the whole spirit of a
guideline is that it should be used as the base and you
should aim to do better. Yet so many young people
today just follow the guideline.”
Off the shelf solutions
For those who do want to “do better” and have the
capacity to think outside the box, the good news is that
there are plenty of ready made packaging options out
there for companies to explore thanks to the efforts of
packaging manufacturers that have been taking this
issue seriously for a number of years.
“As part of our commitment to ensuring openability
is woven into our design process, we collaborate with
Duerr’s
One of the worst repeat
offenders when it comes
to difficult-to-open
packaging is hot-filled
products such as jam
because of the vacuum
formed when the product
is placed into the jar. The
solution the company hit
upon was to use the Orbit
closure created by Crown
(see right). In a Sheffield
Hallam University study
of men aged 20-80
who were capable of
opening a normal jar and
a jar featuring the Orbit
closure, 100% said they
preferred the latter.
“Inclusive is
challenging,
as no
consumer
must be
excluded:
one solution
must fit all”
Pierre-Etienne
Hannecart, Nestlé
Nestlé
Nestlé set up a
partnership with
Cambridge University
in 2009 to implement
‘inclusive design’ (ID)
thinking across its entire
product portfolio. ID has
been used in After Eight
Collection and Black
Magic, the latter with
the cellophane tear-off
clearly marked and found
on the top of the box,
along with much clearer
copy and layout for the
product description.
Nestlé says more work is
underway to implement
ID across its brands.
Weetabix
The company decided
to introduce a brand
new paper wrapper for
its cereal to address the
frustrations its consumers
were experiencing with
the old plastic film
wrapper. After extensive
consumer research
and trials, Weetabix
hit on the “simple yet
innovative” idea of
switching from a plastic
to a paper wrapper,
which was “brilliant for
its packaging,” according
to Stuart Chapman,
associate director at The
Big Picture.
expert organisations, such as the Swedish Rheumatism
Association, to make sure our packs are easy to use
for those with reduced hand strength, including children, the elderly and those suffering from rheumatics
or injury,” says Mike Jarvis, cluster portfolio manager
for Tetra Pak UK Ireland. “Openability has been on
the agenda for some years and as an industry we have
made great strides in developing more efficient, easyto-use and open packaging.”
This is evidenced by the innovations listed above
and the good news is that while they can sometimes
require significant investment, easy-open solutions
don’t always have to carry a price premium, says Clive
Jackson, director of Macfarlane Labels.
“It can take time to develop alternative options, but
in many applications that we’ve been involved in, we
have helped the brand owner to redesign the pack format and save money on the packaging, reducing packaging waste and giving the consumer an easier pack to
open,” says Jackson.
First, though, the brand owner needs to get on board.
What is frustrating for many in the packaging industry
is that when consumer surveys are published showing
how difficult consumers are finding it to open packs,
the packaging companies themselves are often vilified.
Yet they have developed a raft of innovations specifically to address this problem – it’s just a case of convincing the food and drink industry to use them, says
Stephen Dawson, CEO of Bapco Closures.
“Innovation in the packaging industry has led to
44 | The Grocer | 25 January 2014www.thegrocer.co.uk

6. ... and the packaging solutions they’re turning to
CombiSwift
Manufactured by SIG
Combibloc, this easyopen screwcap is used
on long-life juices from
the likes of Ocean Spray
and features a closure
over a laminated hole.
Malcolm Allum, SIG
Combibloc MD, says: “Its
single action twist-off
cap guarantees easy and
convenient opening and a
smooth pouring action.”
Use of combiSwift is
“growing steadily in the
UK”, says Allum, with
retailers such as Tesco
moving to this easy-open
alternative.
High-viscosity mist
sprayers
According to GlobalOne Pak (GOP) director
Clive Broadbent the
company’s high-viscosity
mist sprayers for food
oil can be operated with
one hand and require
18% less force than rival
products, which “helps
with ease of use and
repeated spraying”. GOP
has recently completed
development of a mist
spray and micro trigger
spray for cooking and
salad oils for a “leading
European supermarket”,
says Broadbent.
many win-wins over the years,” he says. “For example,
it’s now possible to invest in packaging that is easy to
open but does not compromise tamper evidence. It is
also possible to use lightweight packaging in which the
enclosed product still remains completely protected.
There’s real innovation in food and drink packaging,
and retailers, consumers, the industry and environment can benefit from ensuring it reaches the market.”
Cautious approach
And therein lies the rub. Food and drink companies not
only often fail to take a sufficiently proactive approach
to openability, they don’t even reactively introduce the
myriad off-the-shelf solutions already on the market.
This conservative approach could have serious consequences, warns Joe Schurtz, executive vice president
of Perception Research Services.
“The risk that they take by doing nothing is the
potential vulnerability to innovation,” he says. “If a
competitor comes up with a packaging solution that
solves a need, it could take the rival company anywhere
from 18 months to two years to catch up. I personally
feel that when the issue of openability starts to hit companies in their wallets, they will be as reactive as they
need to be to protect their business.”
Against a backdrop of the rapidly ageing UK population, there’s a danger that more shoppers may start voting with their wallets sooner than people think if their
concerns continue to be ignored, adds Jarvis. “We know
that consumers with reduced hand strength can make
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Infini
Older consumers need
all the help they can
get with items from the
fridge, which need to
be easy to pick up, easy
to open and, in the case
of a milk bottle, easy
to pour. In response to
these demands, Nampak
Plastics created Infini,
which has an ergonomic,
contoured handle that
sits at a five degree angle.
“An independent survey
of 65 to 82-year-olds
showed that more people
preferred the Infini bottle
to a standard milk bottle
shape,” says Nampak.
“If a competitor
comes up with
a solution, it
could take the
rival company
anywhere
from 18
months to
two years to
catch up”
Joe Schurtz, Perception
Research Services
Bag-in-Box
Taking a corkscrew out of
a wine bottle is a process
that challenges even the
most dextrous individual.
Even screwcap wines can
be tough. That’s where
Smurfit Kappa’s easy-touse Bag-in-Box comes
in. “Bag-in-Box has been
developed to provide a
simple, one-stop opening
process negating the
need for a corkscrew,
reducing the risk of
injury or damage to the
packaging and preventing
spilling,” says Smurfit’s
Bag-in-Box manager UK
Ireland Kevin Heath.
Orbit
Launched in 2011, the
Orbit closure used by
Duerr’s (see left) consists
of a central panel sealed
to the jar by vacuum and
an outer ring screwed
in place to provide
protection. The two-stage
opening process releases
the vacuum, significantly
reducing the torque
required to remove the
closure. “This creates
a more convenient,
easy-open packaging
solution,” says Ana
Neale, marketing director
at Crown Food Europe,
which developed Orbit.
up as much as 30% of the population in some markets
so the consequences of not meeting their needs can be
very serious indeed,” he warns.
The most serious outcome, of course, is if a consumer
who struggles to open a piece of packaging decides
to switch to another company whose packs they are
able to access easily, notes Benjamin Punchard, senior
global packaging analyst at Mintel.
“Consumers are very good at learning to ignore areas
of the retail store that don’t apply to them,” he says.
“There is so much on the shelf that the consumer learns
to block out what is not relevant and focus on what is.
Imagine consumers who are ageing and beginning to
find that lug closures are becoming difficult to open.
“They will learn to ignore glass jars in the store and
if that is what your brand is packaged in then you will
simply move into the ‘ignored zone’. That is why brand
owners need to move quickly to solve these issues
before this happens, with the baby boomer generation
really being the one to keep up with.”
In short, the time to act is now. What is surprising is
that food and drink companies know how important
ease of opening is to consumers and that it can affect
their purchasing decisions, yet few seem prepared to
roll the dice.
Yes, there may be costs entailed, but as the likes of
Jackson point out, they are not always as significant as
retailers and suppliers believe – and the cost of failing
to adopt a more open minded attitude towards openability could end up being far higher.
25 January 2014 | The Grocer | 45