Lea & Perrins Factory Tour

On __________, I was a part of a guided tour through the Lea & Perrins factory in Worcester. Here we learnt the process of manufacture of the sauce.

Firstly, we were taken into the lower rooms (basement) of the factory, where the ingredients such as garlic and onions were being fermented in barrels (these were cleaned out on rotation).

We were then taken out behind the factory where we discovered that their aim as a company is to downsize their input to landfill to zero (hopefully with a little help from our designs!)

We were then taken along into the main factory floor where we learnt more about the current design of the packaging, including the bottle labels and the cardboard trays used to distribute to shops.

The cardboard trays were an element of the design I hadn't really thought of before the factory visit, as I was focusing mainly on the label design and the sustainability of the actual bottle itself. Our guide discussed with us how important these trays were for not only transport purposes, but also for marketing and drawing attention to their product/s.

Overall, I found the Lea & Perrins tour to be helpful in the sense that we could view the manufacture of the sauce first-hand, get a real feel for what the company are looking for, and understand their stance on the original Lea & Perrins bottle design.

Assessed Blog Task

Q1) Materials lightness, suitability for purpose, minimalising of materials use and 'clever or smart' usages of materials were all considerations discussed at CAT with Jo. With your present designs for the Lea and Perrins brief mixed with the research that you've done to date and some of Jo's discussions  (remember there's an mp3 on this year's CAT trip post) suggest 3 ways in which you might minimise your materials use with your package. 

Q2) After our group tutorials in sessions last week we spoke with all who attended about their ideas to date and made suggestions on how they might be improved upon. What 3 considerations did you take away from those discussions and how might they affect the way that you've taken your designs further since last week's sessions?

Q3) Again, on the back of tutorial discussions in sessions last week we'd agreed that most of you needed to add further references/research into products (food-related or otherwise) or precedents that successfully applied some or all of the ideas you were suggesting for the L+P brief. You'll need to have these anyway as part of a rounded set of supporting research. Name or cite 3 precedents or examples of how your ideas for L+P have already been applied commercially.


My Answers:

Q1) My current label design is smaller and uses less paper than the original Lea & Perrins label. I have been working on displaying as much necessary information as possible while keeping the packaging down to a minimum. In order to make this label even more minimal, I could perhaps work on the concertina 'booklet' at the back of the bottle and using less paper (but still keeping in mind that it must remain legible)

Q2) I am looking at A) bringing the sustainability aspect to the forefront of the design B) perhaps shortening the concertina label at the back of the bottle C) considerations into glue alternatives between the paper and bottle.

Q3) I have looked into The Big Knit by Innocent Smoothie, Beauty With Heart by The Body Shop, and One For One by Toms - I feel these companies and organisations have really guided me towards ensuring that the sustainability/recycling factor of a product is key for marketing. It really pushes towards encouraging consumers to buy the product and feel like they are doing their part for the environment by doing so - something which I would really like to put forward in my designs for Lea & Perrins.

Robert Horne Talk (Mary) Notes

> Mary is the environmental product sales manager
> 5 million tonnes of paper-based waste goes into landfill every year
> 8.5kg per family per week of paper-based waste
> Breakdown of paper in papermills
> Papermills are usually placed on a river, and uses a lot of water. Cleans and replaces
> Filtered fibres when creating paper (fibres can only be used a maximum of 4 or 5 times) when used fully goes into cat litter etc
> Green claims code
> (Polyethylene? Look into for Lea & Perrins bottle?)
> Use paper, but be very conscious about it being wasted  

Seacourt Talk (Mark) Notes

> Waterless Printing Company
> As a business, their water usage is less than the average family home.

1997 - Totally water offset
1998 - Registration to ISO140011999
1999 - Second printer worldwide to EMAS environmentally accredited
2001 - Certified as carbon neutral, use recycled paper as preference, and have vegetable oil based inks only
2003 - Switched to 100% renewable energy
2004 - Awards with Wildlife Trust's biodiversity benchmark and won he Oxfordshire Sustainable Award
2007 - Won the Queen's Award for Sustainability
2009 - Installation of environmentally sympathetic digital printing machines
2010 - Verification of zero waste to landfill
2011 - Won second Queen's Award for Sustainable Development
2012 - Large format production commenced.

Further Lea & Perrins Designs

After reading through the brief thoroughly, I got straight to designing some more prototypes in further detail:

Front: The above image shows the iconic bottle shape of Lea & Perrins (design mandatories: retain iconic bottle design), with a similarly designed black cap - this will be an easy-screw cap made of a recyclable material (further research into sustainable materials). The bottle itself I've decided will be made of recycled and recyclable Enviroglass (in either volcanic black or clear). The most imperative part of this design is that it must be sustainable. I have to make this bottle easy for consumers to recycle. All that would need to be done to this bottle after use is a quick disassemble. The cap would screw off, and I have exchanged the current label design for an easy-peel recyclable sticker on either side of the bottle.

Back: This is a view from the back of the bottle. After associating my ideas with the brief objectives, I designed this. Taking on board that I must "create a pack design that is attractive to the 20-35 year old age group" and that the pack design "needs to inspire people to use the product in their everyday cooking". With the easy-peel recyclable sticker being a more contemporary shape (and although the design itself I understand was not a part of the brief, I have redesigned this too, keeping the original signature but inviting a new age of consumer in) I feel that this would already catch the eyes of a younger generation. The sticker on the back of this bottle however folds out, in a concertina manner revealing different meals and their recipes that can be made using their own Lea & Perrins sauce. In short, giving a revamp to their already existing meal ideas, and reminding consumers that they can make all these dishes themselves too.

To let consumers know that their product is a new 'green' sustainable product, I have designed a small green droplet shape to symbolise it's eco-friendly status and to show it is relative to Lea & Perrins sauce. This is in hope it will remind consumers that the product is made for recycling and encourage them to do so.

Case Study: The Body Shop

Beauty With Heart

The Body Shop are more eco-conscious than ever. They are committed to reducing their impact on the environment by reducing the energy they consume, and generating less waste - taking full responsibility for the way they run their business, and hoping to change attitudes towards being eco-friendly worldwide, building on "positive efforts made by suppliers, franchisees, colleagues and customers".

measuring their performance against 2012, they have clear targets for 2020 - to reduce the direct impact of their operations in stores, offices and distribution centres by:

> Reducing their CO2 emissions by 50%, including emissions from electricity, gas, diesel consumption and transporting products from distribution centres to stores.
> Reducing their electricity consumption by 50% (a key contributor to CO2 emissions)

> Reducing their waste by 50% (reducing all waste created by stores, offices and distribution centres) and hopefully counting product packaging. 

> Reducing their domestic water consumption by 25% making sure none is wasted.
 
The Body Shop are also creating wildlife areas at all of their corporate sites, with allotments, beehives, meadows, fruit trees and butterfly-friendly areas.

Also relating back to a previous post "The Story of Stuff" this video (unlisted YouTube video - courtesy of The Body Shop) gives an insight into ethical trade and externalised costs:

Ethical Trade Video

These are big company changes - all for the greater good, so to buy from The Body Shop now as opposed to even 2 years ago in 2010 is so much better for the environment. These changes mean big cuts on their consuming of energy and therefore making for a better, more eco-friendly corporate company.

Case Study: Innocent Smoothie

The Big Knit

Now the main project brief has been set, I have been looking a little further into existing companies who do their part for our plane, as I do not wish to be too caught up in the appearance of the bottle design and dismiss the need for this product to be sustainable and eco-friendly. Therefore, I decided to take a look around and see what I could find with regards to similar companies and how their products and/or campaigns help our environment.

The Big Knit is a annual campaign set up by the founders of Innocent Smoothie, that encourages supporters from all over the country to knit little woolly hats for the caps of the smoothies, and for every bottle sold, 25p will go towards Age UK supporting the elderly generation during the winter months. Since they began nine years ago, they have raised over £1 million.

This, in turn, cuts down on gas use and does it's part for the environment and community. Using witty, attractive designs and with a campaign for a great cause, this is a highly successful piece of product design.

Initial Designs

Although I am aware that the bottle design is not a part of this brief, and that the original iconic design must be kept, I designed a few quick sketches of ideas (that I will not end up using) anyway (shown below). I experimented with squeezy plastic bottle designs, and made considerations into exactly which sustainable material I thought the bottle should be made out of such as glass, black glass and plastic.

I also experimented with it's logo design to get a feel of the design in its entirety, using the orange and black colour scheme and simplistic designs.

Special Editions and Recipes

Although there is an original, recognisable design for Lea & Perrins, There are also numerous designs for Lea & Perrins special edition bottles and recipes (below). I intend to involve recipes in my designs to encourage consumers to not only use the product as a sauce, but also as an ingredient for a main meal.

Lea & Perrins Special Edition

Lea & Perrins The Burger Booster

Lea & Perrins LEAsagne

Lea & Perrins Spaghetti BoLEAgnese

A History of Lea & Perrins

Lea and Perrins, alike any other brand on market today, has gone through quite some changes in design since it's first appearance on our shelves. Quite considerably in comparison to its 1900's advertisements (shown below):

This design (in a rather long-winded way) explains exactly what it needs to, however it is far too much to look at. It's so informative, that it is in fact disengaging. As a consumer, I feel that the image needs to be simplified and there needs to be next to no text. My designs will have minimal text, so as to not disengage consumers.

This next Lea & Perrins design is a lot simpler, the busy image has been taken away and colour has been added (the proud orange and black colour scheme) The only elements this design has in common with its predecessor is "The original & genuine" and the Lea Perrins signature in the background. This design I feel is far more eye-catching and attractive as an on-the-shelf product.

 

This is the present design for Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce. Although slightly clearer, the design is almost identical to the previous - keeping the signature and the recognisable colour scheme.

Main Project: Lea & Perrins

Brief:
Create a prototype sustainable working alternative design for Worcester Sauce packaging.

Required brief deliverables:
Attract a new generation of Lea & Perrins users (without alienating the current, older market) through educating them of exciting ways to use Lea & Perrins in everyday dishes. You must use innovative sustainable packaging designs, materials and considerations in your final solutions.

Design objectives:
> Create a packaging design that is attractive to the 20-35 year old age group
> Inspire people to use the product in their everyday cooking
> Made as sustainable as possible, adhering to the Heinz Corporate social responsibility guidelines

Design mandatories:
> Retain the proud orange and black branding
> Retain the iconic bottle design
> Keep the original and genuine feel of the product

Design considerations:
> Great 'shelf stand-out'
> Attach elements to the bottle such as recipe cards
> Alternate bottle materials to be explored
>Themes of refill, recyclability and bio-materials should be considered

Strategic target:

Cooks who are relatively confident in the kitchen but are looking for new, easy ways to jazz up their repertoire of recipes.

Primary target:

New consumers to the Lea & Perrins brand

What do we want them to think and do?

'I couldn't do without my bottle of Lea & Perrins in the kitchen. It's such a versatile ingredient and a great way of transforming the everyday food I cook.'

The Product:
Lea & Perrins produce Worcestershire Sauce, which was first created by chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins of Worcester. They have created the sauce to a similar closely guarded recipe ever since, in the same factory that Lea and Perrins built in 1897. In 1906 the High Court declared that only Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce may be called 'Original and Genuine'. Over the years the company has been aligned with HP Sauce, the Danone Group and is now owned by Heinz. Currently the sales of Worcestershire sauce are in decline, with Heinz losing 8.3% a year and 55% of sales coming from households with no children, inspiring Lea & Perrins to reach out to a younger audience.

They must now comply to the Heinz Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines which are reducing waste across the board, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste, energy consumption and water consumption.

CAT Visit

On Thursday 25th October we visited

the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, Wales.

Set in the depths of the Welsh mountains, CAT is a visitor centre which "demonstrates the practical solutions for sustainability" and aims to educate the public on how we can make alternative choices to benefit our planet - focusing mainly on green living, eco-sanitisation, organic growing, woodland management and environmental building.

The centre itself was built sustainably in an abandoned slate quarry, and there was only one way to reach it - using their very one water-balanced cliff railway (as shown below). This method gathers and releases water depending on the weight of the number of passengers riding, using no electricity what-so-ever.

During our visit, we were given a talk by Jo, a member of staff at the CAT centre. Jo gave us a presentation on sustainability and how we can make changes to our lifestyle to benefit the greater good. He quoted from websites such as GapMinderWorld.com, and even from the video; The Story of Stuff. After a more general take on the subject, he narrowed it down to the building we were in - the WISE (Wales Institute for Sustainable Education) building, and exactly how it was built. We were given a box of different building materials (most of which were eco-friendly and mostly uncommon to us as "building materials") our job was to name each material, we then learnt how they were used as a part of the building.

I found this useful, as it was then clear to me that as not only a nation, but as a planet, we have the choice. We do not have to use these highly toxic, high in energy resources in order to build and live comfortable lives. We can just as easily live using natural resources. And although Jo also made the understandable point that "simply recycling won't diminish the issue", there are other options. It was suggested that to really put a dent in this downward spiral, we must put a stop our constant consuming.


On Reflection:

Had you heard of CAT before you came on the module? 
I had not heard of CAT before this module.


Please give your thoughts on the 3x most notable points raised in the sustainability lecture on site
I gathered from the talk by Jo that although recycling can only be positive - as, it stands, it is not making much of a difference in the long run. If we want to live fully sustainable lives, we must make bigger commitments and focus not only on what we are recycling from our groceries and smaller, menial things, but more so on our housing materials, our ways of central heating and our use of natural resources.


Please give your thoughts on the 3x most notable things picked up while at CATAfter the talk from Jo and exploring the grounds around CAT, I picked up on a few things about the centre. For example, the solar panels on the roof instead of using a central heating system with gas (these were facing South in order to use optimum sun power throughout the day). Jo had also mentioned that they use fibre glass, compressed wood and wool as insulation inside the walls of the building.

Now you've had time to reflect, what 3x things gained from the CAT visit might you bring forward into your ideas and developments for the sustainable packaging brief? 
Since visiting CAT I have gained an inside look at how sustainable housing really works, and I feel the talk by Jo was greatly beneficial as it filled in the gaps and answered any questions I had.

A Short Presentation on Base Materials: Metal - by Mair, Keely and Paulo

The Story of Stuff

The Story of Stuff (2008) by Annie Leonard is a short, mostly animated, documentary highlighting the root issues in our economy. With growing "greedy" corporations and extraction ("trashing the planet") taking place, it is no wonder we are running ourselves into the ground. Along with this video came some pretty shocking and eye-opening facts. For example, the USA population is approximately 5% of the entire world's population, however, shockingly, they use 30% of the world's resources. But it begs the question, is this just simply put down to greed? Or are products being "designed for the dumps"?

With media having a massive affect on our lives, advertisement is being pushed at us left, right and centre. We can't walk down the street, watch television, or sit on a train or bus without being told what we need to buy in order to lead a more fulfilling and "happier" lifestyle. As Annie Leonard talks about, it's a " Work, watch, spend" treadmill - we work to earn money, come home tired and watch television where we're told to buy things, so we go and buy them, go back to work so we can pay of debts and afford more things, then come back tired so we watch television again, where we are told to by more things..." it's a vicious - perceived obsolescence - cycle.

But it is just this? Or are these items we are buying designed for the dump? As 99% of items going through the production system are being thrown away as rubbish within only 6 months - a shockingly short amount of time. Poor quality items, for a low currency cost with only a short lifespan. These items may not be costing us, but they are costing others. These are externalised costs. The charge is going to those working in the production or near the manufacturing of these items. They lose out on their share of the pay (going to big corporations) and even on their environment, as our rubbish is being dumped on their land and their natural resources are being extracted. For example, 2000 trees in the Amazon are lost every minute due to this.

Although Annie states that even if we all were to recycle 100% of our household rubbish it would work towards stopping this out-of-control downward spiral, there is something we can do. We must work to stop consuming. Instead of buying and recycling - stop buying. Make suitable choices in what we purchase and if we don't need it, make do or decide on an eco-friendly alternative. For example, in this video (also by Annie Leonard) instead of purchasing bottled water, fill a bottle of our own and reuse it instead of throwing away empty plastic bottle after plastic bottle of water. This wouldn't make a difference to us, as, according to this video, some specific brands of water are filtered tap water anyway, regardless of their "make them scared to drink tap water" marketing techniques.

So, in conclusion, instead of buying into these big corporations, we must stop and evaluate. Do we really need this product in our lives? Would finding an alternative work just as well, if not, better? Can we reuse it instead of throwing it out? If we make these positive changes in our own lives, maybe then might we see a difference.

Theoretical Prototype

For my initial theoretical prototype concept/s, I have taken inspiration from my research into sustainable, recyclable and eco-friendly packaging to design a suitable shoe box. My shoe box design would be used in the transportation of (preferably, but not limited to) canvas shoes. Using a similar approach to a use after its primary use as 'Toms - One for One', where for every shoe purchased, the consumer would then use the same box they received their shoes in, to send an old pair of shoes back to the company. The consumers new shoes would come wrapped in recycled paper which has, printed upon it, a nautical-style map of where their old shoes/materials from their old shoes that are sent back to the company end up.

 1) A 100% recyclable cardboard box held together tight with string (shoes accessible on small side of box as shown in diagram 2). This is sustainable as no material used would go to waste.

 2) A set layout of the recyclable box in which the old and new shoes would be transported in.

3) (Use of a smaller box-shape in photograph so the design is visible) the 'nautical style' wrapping for the shoes inside the box, for protection of the shoes, and to inform the consumer where their old shoes will be sent.

4) The three final designs for my theoretical prototype (not drawn to scale).

Box Designs Research

Although initially designed as chocolate packaging with a rugged military ration feel and old typewritten forms, This particular aesthetic, simple 'box and string' design would certainly work as a potential shoe box.

Originally designed as a 'cutting board package' for bread, this particular box layout set would work in perfect conjunction with the above chocolate box design.

As a variation on the simple box, this design for Incase offers a simple and clean design with a more innovative way to open and close the package, with a flip lid that resembles a satchel bag.

 Why use cardboard when you can use durable, softer materials? As customers today are in seem to need of reassurance of where their product can be sourced, this design for Phil Bowditch Fishmonger shows exactly where their product has come from by displaying it on the nautical maps in which their product is wrapped in, then it is placed in a recyclable bag. A win-win design.

This design for Vim Popcorn may be a little different to previous designs, however this design would work for shoes resembling 'Toms' and softer, canvas shoes - giving a more exciting take on a simple shoe box.

Toms Case Study

Toms are not only a shoe company, but a growing organisation (One for One). Their movement is simple, for every pair of Toms purchased, they give another pair of new Toms to children in need. Toms has thus far given 2,000,000 pairs of shows to children all around the world.

Awareness days have also been set up, such as "One Day Without Shoes" to help understand the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child's life, as without them, many children are exposed to injury and disease each day, whether at play, doing chores or going to school.

Set up by Blake Mycoskie in 2006 (the year in which 10,000 pairs of shoes were personally delivered by himself, family and friends to children in need) as a company, Toms aims to help minimise the amount of children who have to go without shoes, by encouraging others to purchase a pair of their shoes.

Traditional Packaging Prototype

Task: Using as few new resources as possible, produce a working prototype pack design that safely transports 3 tangerines - displayed attractively, with the tangerines visible.


For this task, we were given only string and cardboard in which to create a suitable form of packaging to transport the three tangerines.

To create strength in our packaging, we used layers of folded cardboard, held firm by tight string to keep the box together and to use as a 'carry handle'. We were given cardboard already pre-cut into a specific shape, so we used the shape as a part of our final prototype design. We used cardboard inside the outer shell of the design to keep the fruit from rolling around and being damaged.

If I could design this with my group again, I would design it with similarities to the traditional Japanese rice straw design for eggs and fruit, as our design may not have been suitable had the design been tipped on to its side or upside-down. However, for the most part, our prototype would have kept the fruit safe, and is an easily transportable design for smaller distances.

An Introduction to Traditional Japanese Packaging

The Utilitarian Logic/Lineage

 1) Magnolia Leaf Wrap

Used for wrapping rice cakes (alike bamboo and oak leaves, which are used to wrap rice dumplings)

2) Rural Rope Wrapping 

 Used for the preservation and protection of fish

 3) Rice Straw

Used for easy transport and protection of food such as eggs and fruit

Utilitarian Lineage packaging is made from entirely natural materials and is appropriate for storing, protection, preservation and is a sustainable solution to minimal (free of excess), beautiful, simplistic packaging.





The Handicraft

Handicraft packaging is a more conscious set of designs which were created by craftsmen to design more "art-based" packaging. These designs were considered more sophisticated.