PACKAGING DESIGN & SOLUTIONS: DESIGN FOCUS Q
What closures/ wrappings/dispensers
have been used and how do these affect the functionality of the packaging? NF: The perforated opening feature on the front of the carton is a great idea, enabling the consumer to pull out individual sachets from the front. AHE: The outer carton is cleverly designed with two options for opening: either a perforated tear- off strip near the base of one face, or a lightly glued full aperture tuck-in flap opening on one side (or the top, depending on which way you look at the carton). Looking at the individually wrapped bags, the sachet material (referred to as a ‘foil wrap’ on the pack – which could confuse the consumer into thinking that it can be recycled with aluminium foil) is a metallised film, possibly polypropylene, with a heat seal layer. It has an excellent aroma barrier, witnessed by the strong coffee smell but only as the sachet is torn open. There’s an interesting instruction to ‘tear gently to open’ – we’re not sure how ‘gently’ should be interpreted or what would happen if one tore ‘viciously’. The sachet is certainly easy to tear, and tears cleanly down one side. SW: The carton features two different options for opening that correspond with the two different standing options.
Q
Is the packaging easy to use or does it hinder the
availability or usability of the product? NF: Initial tearing of the coffee bag sachet was not always easy and took several goes to achieve. Once first opened the tear feature was smooth and easy and the coffee smelt great! AHE: The problem with many perforated items is that tearing along the perforations does not always work, and our sample was no exception. It required a packaging technologist’s very careful manipulation to avoid tearing in the wrong place and even then we were left with a slightly ragged and untidy edge. Also, once we’d opened it this way it should have been easy to pull out one wrapped bag at a time from the stack, but the narrow aperture made this awkward. In contrast, taking a bag out via the full aperture flap was easy. In general the pack format cannot be said to hinder product use. Also, both carton and film sachets give clear instructions on how to use the coffee bag.
SW: Prudent Grandma can use the carton with its lid in landscape format, then put the pack away. Conversely, if you’re on the go ‘time poor, cash rich’ you can use the pack in portrait form as a dispenser. It is easy to use, yes.
Q
Does the packaging on the product adhere
enough to the brand’s identity? NF: The marketing campaign with the Royal British Legion, whereby three pence from every pack sold goes to the Poppy Appeal, with the Poppy appearing in the top left corner of the front of the pack, serves to reinforce the legacy and history of the Lyons name. This is complemented by the message in strong brown capital letters on the side opening of the carton: “Lyons-We’ve been making great coffee since 1904”. AHE: The Lyons brand name is fairly low-key, but the company is synonymous with coffee, so maybe this is all that is required. The link with the British Legion is a good marketing tool; each pack purchased results in a contribution to the welfare of the Armed Forces. SW: The pack does justice to a brilliant brand, even down to the finer details such as the “open gently” instruction on the foil wrap. This may be slightly over the top - it is after all a ‘teabag’ full of coffee, not the Crown Jewels - but altogether it works and serves to enhance the brand. That’s not that common these days.
Q
As a packaging expert, what would you have
done differently in the design and manufacturing of the packaging/what needs improving? NF: There is little I would personally do to improve or enhance the pack. However, the initial ease of tearing of the sachet needs to be improved; it says on it ‘tear gently’, but it takes a firm pull to open. The product has some great benefits and the concept of ‘On the go individual fresh coffee bags’ will appeal to today’s time-strapped consumer. The Lyons name and Lyons coffee heritage are well promoted and the links with the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal add to the worthiness of the product. AHE: The coffee bag itself could be slightly smaller in diameter (to fit more readily into a mug) although whether the reduction in surface area would affect the time taken for
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PackagingGazette.co.uk
the coffee to brew would need to be evaluated by the coffee experts. SW: I would suggest that the product is over-packaged. The carton contains eighteen foil wrapped bags. But it could easily hold twenty-four, even thirty. Why make it look bigger than it is? The target audience won’t be fooled and shelf space is expensive. Pack in more bags, or reduce the carton size.
Q
What would you award the product out of ten?
NF: I would award the pack nine out of 10. It has much going for it, albeit in a limited up-market niche sector. In the Waitrose store I visited sales had been going well, helped by a central shelf position and the word
“new” on the shelf pricing label. AHE: We score the product a
nine. The packaging is good, designed to attract attention and to have a wide appeal, and the coffee (smooth, all-day) tasted
good too. SW: It’s great! In ten years every pack will have an affiliation or charity promise. As products approach near-perfection in quality, taste and originality, how else can manufacturers seek competitive advantage? Yes, there’s something here for everyone: especially the different product format for those aspiring to something better than instant coffee, but who can’t be bothered to fiddle with the coffee machine. I’d like to give it full marks but I know somewhere out there is a designer who is working on a pack that will solve all of our problems. In deference to her or
him, Lyons Coffee gets 9.1.
that look they have been put together in an art studio with stamps and paint on paper/card that just ‘had to do’ as there was no prisitine white paper left because it had been taken by the posh kids. The typeface used is a key example of this. The large ‘Good Morning’
T
(or ‘Coffee Break’ or ‘Gourmet Italian’) on the packs looks like a hand- drawn scrawl, making it more approachable and human-like. It’s almost like a personable greeting from your box of coffee when you open your kitchen cupboard in a zombie-like slumber first thing in the morning. Or when your mid-afternoon desk nap looks like a certainty. The font also looks quite British heritage - something that always draws me in. In terms of the colours used, I do think they offer good differentiation
on the shelf, especially in comparison to others in the market, who seem to favour darker colours to connote luxury and intensity. The ‘traffic light’ system that has been used (red, yellow and green) is a good idea, with yellow signalling a bright start to the morning with red meaning the end of the day, or ‘stopping’. The charitable association with the Poppy Appeal also adds some colour splash to the pack. In terms of the actual pack, the rectangular standing box makes a
change from all the jars and brick packs that are seen as ‘standard’ and the lighter colour box will also offer standout. When we look inside the pack, however, I get a bit annoyed. I
understand that the foil is offering increased freshness protection, but as far as I’m concerned, this is not needed and may even be a case of engineering a solution to a problem that does not exist. My PG Tips aren’t individually wrapped and they’re in individual bags. Why should coffee need protecting when tea doesn’t? Also, the foil packet is just plain fiddly and most people want coffee ASAP, and, the bag itself is too big for a normal mug. Plus, the foil is not recyclable! I think if these problems were sorted, we would have a 10 out of 10 pack. However, as
it stands, I would award this 8.5 out of 10. Get rid of the foil!
Editor’s Verdict
his packaging, I have to say, really caught my eye. It has the sort of ‘slap-dash’ design that I adore. Of course, I know that no design is ever created in such a manner, but I love packages
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