30 percent less packaging, 100 percent improvement

In my opinion, Walkers' new design for the secondary packaging of its Quavers brand of crisps is a marked improvement on how multipacks are usually retailed.

Not so long ago, one of my friends made a quip on Facebook that his lunchtime snack contained more air than crisps, with the volume of product not matching up to the dimensions of the primary packaging.

This is often true for multipacks as well, where the secondary packaging is normally oversized in relation to the six or 12 individual packs within.

I'm not writing this blog with experience and knowledge of food manufacturing, or too much of an eye on the requirements of the supply chain, which may explain away some of the reasons why there's often so much empty space in crisp multipacks, but the new multipack packaging for Quavers brand crisps goes a long way to combating this by using 30 percent less wrap and an improved structural design to create secondary packaging that fits more precisely around the individual packs within.

Multipack bags, as normally seen, tend to feature a large volume of wasted space as the individual packs inevitably settle at the bottom (pictured, below), resulting in unused space at the top of the secondary packaging.

With the new Quavers secondary packaging, this has been eliminated with an oblong-shaped, six-sided design that replicates the dimensions of six individual bags when stood in a line.

The design of the new-look secondary packaging is complemented by an easy open feature along the top of the material, so creating a neat opening for consumers to access the individual packs.

You can read more on the application of lasers to selectively weaken packaging materials for easy open features, and create complex shapes in converted materials, in the next issue of Packprint World, but the easy open feature of the Quavers multipack packaging nicely showcases how such a feature is being deployed in modern packaging, especially in the food and beverage markets.

I wasn't able to directly compare Quavers' old packaging with new, but our larder did allow me to compare it against another Walkers brand, Squares, as retailed in more traditional multipack packaging.

As can be seen (pitured, left), the new-look secondary packaging provides a much cleaner user experience, with the easy open feature permitting straightforward access to individual packs.

The benefits of this, and the six-sided design, are printed clearly by Walkers on the reverse of the secondary packaging. This, it claims, helps consumers keep their cupboards ordered and tidy, as well as cutting transportation costs. In fact, the claim by Walkers is that the new design for Quavers multipack packaging equates to "100,000 fewer miles on the road".

The benefit of reducing the impact from transportation is one made by many sectors of the packaging market, from those producing stand-up pouches that can be shipped more economically before filling than rigid containers, to the likes of Bell Packaging and its Jetbox brand of cartons delivered on a reel (read more on this product in the next issue of Packprint World).

In the case of Walkers, the more compact, rectangular design shows its benefits when the filled packs are boxed for shipping, and when it comes to stocking shelves in the supermarket (pictured, below).

All these credentials come together to make this new structure a success in my eyes, and while Walkers might be using 30 percent less wrap to produce its secondary packaging, I see it as a near 100 percent improvement in terms of functionality, performance and consumer interaction.

Time will tell if it's just a cursory nod to consumer convenience and environmental matters, or if it is extended to other crisp brands, particularly those in the Walkers family.

I hope it is as it's nice to see something new on the shelf, that looks different, and promises marked improvements to the impact and performance of packaging.