Project Description
Background & Challenge
Luke the Finnish Institute for natural resources is a research institute that provides new solutions towards the sustainable development of the Finnish bioeconomy and the promotion of new biobased businesses. The brief was to create the brand and packaging for second-class (ugly) vegetables. Currently, different looking vegetables are not normally sold in supermarkets. Often, they become animal feed or food waste. The few ugly vegetables that reach supermarkets are sold for a substantially lower price. This is both an environmental issue and an issue for farmers income.
The packaging and branding were requested to not look clearly premium or cheap, as the researchers would be shifting the vegetable’s price around on different days of the testing period. The brand should be neutral enough to allow that. This project target demographic is all Finnish people, especially the ones above 18 years old, who make their own food purchasing decisions.
Solution:
The solution integrated branding strategy and packaging. From the structural perspective, the most important facts to consider were that the bags had to hold up to 1kg of vegetables, be easy to carry, and be somewhat flexible due to vegetables’ different sizes. Customers would want to be able to close the package, and the package should also fit people’s refrigerators so the vegetables can be stored in the package. Because it’s impossible to know exactly the size and shape of the vegetables packaged, vertical packaging seemed a better option, as it fits better long carrots and cucumbers. Because vertical shape has a smaller surface area of on the bottom it also works better with smaller amounts of produce, as they fit more tightly the products doesn’t move and around and get damaged as easily.
Student Team:
- Heta Korpela
- Inkeri Pääkkö
- Luisa Jannuzzi
- Max Nuutila
