DailyDirt: Nicer Packaging For The Stuff We Eat
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Food packaging technology has come a long way from tin cans and glass containers. Packaging material is thinner and lighter and keeps food fresher for longer. And now that some plastics can be more easily recycled or composted, there are nifty new containers that could be slightly more environmentally friendly. Maybe food packaging hasn’t been perfected just yet, but here are some interesting examples of progress in food distribution.
- It took three years to develop a successor to the ubiquitous ketchup packet. Maybe they should have also designed ketchup dispensers for mini-vans that just attach to the back of the headrests. [url]
- Someday kids won’t know what a cereal box is — because cereal will come in bags? And while cereal makers are trying to improve their packaging, how about making those bags compostable, too? [url]
- Compostable packaging is supposed to degrade. This seems like a job for Mythbusters, but it would take some patience to verify that a SunChips bag actually decomposes over 13 weeks. [url]
- To discover more food-related links, check out what’s floating around in StumbleUpon. [url]
By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.
Filed Under: cereal, compostable, food, ketchup, packaging
Companies: heinz, sunchips
Comments on “DailyDirt: Nicer Packaging For The Stuff We Eat”
Droid’s mascot long lost cousin to the rescue.
http://www.tuvie.com/smellfree-compost-bin-the-ultra-efficient-odorless-compost-bin-concept/
what's wrong with glass?
I think they should store more food in glass containers… who wants all this plastic crap?
Re: what's wrong with glass?
I think they should store more food in glass containers… who wants all this plastic crap?
People who don’t want to clean up broken glass and spilled food every time they lose their grip on a container.
It’s all well and good to say that they should be more careful, but be honest; How many times have you accidentally dropped a food container?
Plus, plastic is squeezable, glass isn’t. Remember the days of banging on the bottom of the ketchup bottle trying to get it to come out. Heinz even made commercials satirizing this problem with their “It’s slow good!” ads.
Re: Re: what's wrong with glass?
Plastic is also a petroleum product that leaches toxic chemicals into food and gasses toxic chemicals into the air.
Bon Apetit!!!
“And while cereal makers are trying to improve their packaging, how about making those bags compostable, too?”
Why not go all the way and make them edible?
Re: Re:
I’m pretty sure that edible cereal containers would probably taste better than grape nuts…
Less Packaging... Less Food
How about mentioning the recent trend towards redesigning packaging so that it hides the fact that the packaging now contains less food?
One brand of cookies — that I no longer buy — changed the plastic tray from two rows running lengthwise to three rows running across. And went from 16 ozs to 13.5 ozs in the process. (Keebler Pecan Sandies)
Some Triscuit crackers now come in a “snack box” (and only in a snack box) that’s kind of shaped like an old-style popcorn box. And it too went from 16 ozs to 13.5 ozs in the process.
But did the prices decrease 15% as well? Nope.
The best stuff to eat doesn’t come in packaging.