Chloe Smith, thegrocer.co.uk 31/07/2009

Asda will challenge big-name brands to follow its lead by slashing packaging by up to a third this autumn.

Following a drive to cut own-label packaging by 25%, which resulted in a saving of £10m, chief merchandising officer Darren Blackhurst said he would be asking brand owners to follow suit at Asda’s supplier conference later this year.

via Asda cuts packaging and challenges suppliers to follow suit | thegrocer.co.uk.

Well it looks as though Walmart is keeping up the pressure on the industry to improve its environmental performance, which is not a bad thing if it helps saves the planet and makes everyone in the supply chain more aware of their responsibilities.  Walmart announced they will be asking their suppliers 15 simple questions (see below) about how they produced the product and packaging. The questions fall into 4 categories:

• Energy and Climate: Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
• Material Efficiency: Reducing Waste and Enhancing Quality
• Natural Resources: Producing High Quality, Responsibly Sourced Raw Materials
• People and Community: Ensuring Responsible and Ethical Production

This is an effort to help to create a sustainability index number to provide customers with product information in a simple, convenient, easy to understand rating, so they can make choices and consume in a more sustainable way.

So what does this mean to the packaging industry?

Those companies who design and develop packaging will need to know and understand these 15 questions and how they contribute to their customers’ answers as suppliers to Walmart.

Have a read and let us know what you think.

Thanks go out to Branding & Marketing Guru @chrisbrown330 for bringing our attention to this article

You can read Chris’ full article at: http://tinyurl.com/nvmwva

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Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 22 July 2009

Asda has not concluded which suppliers will need to provide information for owner Wal-Mart’s sustainable product index when it is launched in the UK next year.

via Wal-Mart sustainability index to reach UK in 2010 | packagingnews.co.uk.

It’s good to see that consumers are thinking more about their carrier bag usage and there has been a HUGE voluntary reduction, so why is this being turned into a negative news story by the media (because it’s fallen short of the 50% target)? I also tend to agree with Barry Turner, chairman of the Carrier Bag Consortium, that this continuous focus on plastic carrier bags is taking everyone’s eyes off the ‘bigger picture’ and all of the other good work that has been done by supermarkets. After all, plastic carrier bags represent less than 1% of all household waste in the UK. So let’s get our priorities right guys and concentrate on the ’sharks’ and not the ‘minnows’. Chris Penfold

Supermarkets cut plastic bag use by 48%, says WRAP Simeon Goldstein, packagingnews.co.uk, 17 July 2009

Carrier bag usage has almost halved in the past three years, according to new data from WRAP.

Read the full article here: Supermarkets cut plastic bag use by 48%, says Wrap | packagingnews.co.uk.

Catherine Dawes, packagingnews.co.uk, 15 July 2009

The Food Standards Agency FSA is reviewing its recommendations for food traffic light labelling, to more closely resemble Asdas.

To read more just click the link FSA to advise Asda traffic light is best | packagingnews.co.uk.

This article provides a fascinating insight into consumer behaviour. I think that it’s no surprise that ecological issues are higher on Consumers’ agenda but it’s interesting to read that “In 2008, 40% of UK respondents agreed that they seek alternative products if they believe their first choice to be packaged excessively” – I’m not sure that I believe that in reality – but I’m sure that it’s growing. Also interesting to read about the correlation of environmental issues and cost-optimisation being linked because of the ‘recession’.  We have certainly found this at Design Cognition.

Overall I believe that it’s certainly true that “consumer packaged goods companies should continue to evaluate their packaging in order to align themselves with an emerging consumer trend” – they ignore at their peril! Chris Penfold

Sustainable packaging trend gathering pace – A new report* from independent market analyst Datamonitor identifies sustainable packaging as a growing consumer issue, revealing that, although sustainable packaging is not yet a primary motivator of purchases, it is becoming a consumer expectation.

Sustainable packaging is one of a growing number of issues driven by ethics, economics and environmentalism. Economic imperatives, as well as possible greater regulation, mean that more brands need to consider adapting their present approach to accommodate sustainable packaging, comments Matthew Adams**, consumer analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report.

Read the full article here on Bizcommunity: Sustainable packaging trend gathering pace.

Thanks to @packagingdiva and @NYDesign for bringing our attention to this article on Twitter

Josh Brooks, Packaging News, 01 July 2009

Corrugated packaging has moved out of the supply chain shadows into a leading role on the main stage – the supermarket shelf. Josh Brooks visits DS Smiths new Impact & Innovation centre to find out more

via Corrugated giant eyes retail-ready boom | packagingnews.co.uk.

Justin King has ruled out the possibility of introducing carbon labelling to Sainsbury’s products in the near future.

Article spotted in thegrocer, just follow the link to read the full article http://bit.ly/tAm0q

Article By Chris Penfold Design Cognition

We’ve been having an interesting debate in the office over the past few days regarding the importance of innovative packaging for the CD market and how it could help CDs compete with the download market. Affiliated to this is the need to move forward in innovative ways in a market that is becoming more and more impacted by environmental concerns.

Many CD producers are trying to cut costs to compete but is that the right thing to do? And will it not just reduce packaging to a worthless commodity item that is just seen as waste?

During that debate we came up with some interesting insights and thought that it would be good to share them with you and elicit any comments that you might have.

 

 

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You are throwing away a billion tomatoes, 1.6m bananas, 775m bread rolls, 359,000 tonnes of potatoes and £420 a year — as well as causing pollution. In the second of our series on the greening of Britain, Richard Girling unwraps the tangled economics of food waste, packaging and recycling

This is an interesting article from the Sunday Times, to read more just click here  http://bit.ly/gLbeI