Page 38 - Packaging News Magazine Nov-Dec 2021

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PACKAGING INNOVATION | www.packagingnews.com.au | November-December 2021
How do you like themIapples?
A new packaging concept for fresh apples developed by NAVI Co Global is being trialled in Coles premium stores in Victoria. Colleen Bate speaks to the designer and packaging converter behind the project.
MAGINE walking into your local retail store, when a stack of brightly coloured apple punnets captures your attention. Instead of being hidden behind a sea of plastic, the visible apples are partially seen through the pun- net’s creative cut outs and holes
and turn into interesting pieces of art. Imagine, too, that the punnet, which contains a grab handle for carrying, is not only an eco-friendly container for the apples, but also acts as a market- ing storyboard, depicting the apple’s
journey from harvest to retail.
No longer an intangible concept, the apple punnets have become a reality: The Jeftomson’s Orchard-branded pun- nets are currently available on trial at
16 premium Coles stores in Victoria. The consumer acceptance trial for the punnet format has been running in the select stores since August to help gauge consumer sentiment towards the new packaging format. If successful, they will be rolled out to other Coles stores around the country and may also be
adapted for use with other produce. The punnets were produced collab- oratively by Goulburn Valley grower Jeftomson; pulp, paper packaging company, Oji Fibre Solutions; and ‘The Packaging Hippie’ – NAVI Co
Global’s Gilad Sadan.
The journey began when Sadan,
who flippantly claims to speak flu- ent ‘packaguese and sustainese,’ was approached by Oji’s general manager Wolf Lorenz to work on the project.
Together with Jeftomson, they came up with a brief to devise a creative and engaging piece of sustainable packag- ing that would take consumers on a visual ‘ride’ of Jeftomson Orchard’s apples from harvest to retail.
Importantly, the packaging had to contain a grab handle that was safe for consumers to carry without fall- ing apart.
“Today’s shoppers are very transac- tional,” explains Lorenz, pointing out that to grab consumers’ attention, the
LEFT: The punnet, which contains a grab handle for carrying, is not only an eco-friendly container for the apples, but also acts as a marketing storyboard, depicting the apple’s journey from harvest to retail.