Great Britain
Recycling Trumps Nutrition. Here’s an official Carbon Footprint Moment! According to consumer behavior consultancy Mintel, when it comes to food and beverage labels, consumers are even more interested in recycling information than nutrition.
While peering at labels spans the Atlantic, according to Mintel, 84 percent of adults are now looking at
the recycling credentials of a package, according to an online poll of 1,000 consumers in Great Britain. That’s equal to the number interested in fat content, and higher than salt, sugar, and calories.
It’s also something to consider when looking at ethical labeling: one group, the UK Soil Association, won’t even label air transported products as organic because of the amount of pollution that mode of travel causes.
“The popularity of recycling is testament to the success of the green lobby in getting consumers to think about the packaging our food comes in,” said David Bird, a consumer analyst for Mintel.
According to Bird, the emphasis has come from external factors like “pay as you throw” legislation and community-based recycling programs – some of which are active or on tap in the U.S.
Italy
Italian packaging firm PET Engineering has recently released a PET wine bottle that mimics the shape of the classic glass bottle. The bottle uses a screwcap instead of a cork, but still has a wine bottle’s signature cylindrical shape, pronounced shoulder and concave bottom.
China
It happened quietly, but Coca-Cola has opened a research center for Chinese medicine in Beijing, attempting to combine Chinese herbal flavors, ingredients and formulas for Coke and its other product lines.
The center opened at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.
The project might even result in a Chinese herbal Coke, chief scientific officer Rhona Applebaum told the magazine Forbes.
Packaging Profile:
Rio Miura, Metromint
Narrow-shouldered, polka dot-patterned, Metromint has cut a unique profile in the beverage industry since its introduction in 2005; the brains behind the bottle line has always been Rio Miura, who, as one of the founding partners of the product line (husband Scott Lowe is the other) took it upon herself to assemble a design team and execute her ideas. Last year, the entire line of mint essence waters took home a prestigious design award, winning a spot in the 2007 Communication Arts Design Annual.
Miura’s vision famously extends past her bottles to include industry displays, where the Metromint team can be found in stark white suits to offset the colors dotting their bottles. BevNET Innovation spoke with the ultra-chic ultra-modernista about her design imperatives and inspirations: