The Packaging Difference and Our Testing Phase
Photo courtesy of StudioJaz
The Packaging Difference and Our Testing Phase
Our Pursuit of the Ideal Packaging
Looking at the image above, which one would you say was holding more oil? Looking at the image again, which one would you say would be more expensive?
These questions of consumer perception are some of the reasons why a certain packaging is chosen over another, especially for premium products. It is not only a protective layer for the product or a mere means of transporting product from creator to consumer. It’s an optimum place to market, brand and share a company’s identity and values, so this real estate is of high value and importance to a company.
What’s your vessel made of?
In 2018-2019 we’ve been testing and researching different packaging materials for our beloved PK extra virgin olive oil. As noted in our previous posting on packaging here, finding something that’s cost effective for a small start-up farm, in the most isolated islands in the world, is not an easy task! Feeding current single-use consumer packaging needs for both on-island and global distribution is a burden that many local farms have to budget for. Using single-use packaging in a linear structure of consumption (create - use- waste) is not sustainable long term for anyone— not the farmer, not the consumer, not the environment. The only one with a potential for a short-win is the packaging producers and the ones mining or chemically generating the materials.
Finding the right packaging that is not wasteful is not only a daunting task for just Hawai’i, but for the entire U.S. with 23% of U.S. landfills filled with containers and packaging (EPA: Reducing Food Waste Packaging). It takes time, experience, strategic planning and experimenting to see what works for each situation.
Focusing on just the olive oil vessel itself for this post (we’ll save the other packaging parts with shipping for another discussion), we tested two materials and styles that we thought had promise — the classical and timeless green-tinted round-glass bottle and an artisan craft style of the stainless steel tin. If you’ve read this far wondering the answers to the question first posed to you, the answer is both containers are holding the exact same amount of olive oil — 250ml/ 8.5 fl. oz. When packing a mix of tin and glass bottles during our test phase, we would have to remind customers that they are getting the same amount of oil even if the volume difference looked significant. The tin does look like half the size of the bottle, and by looking at the total material used for the package, it probably is.
Some conclusions we have come to on our experimentation thus far is:
GLASS
Pros - What we have come to like on the glass bottle is its classic beauty. It looks pretty darn good on a dinner table next to the wine, and it has no problem to show off at a casual luncheon or fancy dinner. It’s weight and stature definitely gives it a feeling of value and that it’s a delicacy. These are good quality glass bottles coming from Europe and China that bring shame upon the idea of it being a single-use package after all that effort, distance, time and resources. Glass on Maui is currently recyclable though. The awesome thing about glass is its durability for the most part. Yes glass can shatter if you hit it right, but it can last years and years and years which means it is great for reuse.
Cons - The weight. Shipping glass is heavy and that means it’s less cost effective, and it uses more resources for transporters to move it around. Like mentioned above, it can be fragile under certain conditions or when you’re lucky enough to hit just the right spot for a nice cracked mess across your floor drowned in a pool of precious oil — a real horror scene. Recycling is available but expensive to collect, haul and ship across the Pacific — ask your recycler or municipality.
SQUARE TIN
Pros - It takes less material to hold the same volume capacity of oil. It is so so light compared to the glass, and the durability is awesome for shipping — no nightmares about cracked product reaching a customer! What we have come to like on the tin is its adaptability and its simple minimal beauty. It looks like it is pulled off of a shelf of a small country farm in Tuscany. It has a rustic appeal that is nostalgic and no fuss. It could do well in an antipasti picnic scene as well as an urban hip restaurant next to the butcher block and mood lighting. Tin on Maui is currently recyclable and our tin has no paint or dyes on it which makes it a purer form that is easier to recycle. Shipping of metals across the Pacific is lighter than materials like glass.
Cons - Tin comes from a non-renewable method that involves mining of resources (though in a pure form it can be recycled over and over again). It also has an embedded plastic funnel that takes a little effort in getting off for proper recycling. Its smaller size may give the impression that you’re paying a lot for so little product. Tin in this form is not made to be reused multiple times by the consumer. It can have another life if you add some creativity to it, but it ultimately will end up in the recycle bin or trash. This packaging comes all the way from Italy for its single-use packaging purpose. The square shape is a little harder to pour oil out when you’ve only got a couple of tablespoons left.
What does this all mean?
There isn’t an ideal packaging solution just yet. But this is already a great step in the right direction knowing what we need to know, realizing, acknowledging and making some shifts happen. What we’ve understood so far is that glass is great and we still would like to have it tied to our product heritage, just maybe in the places it makes most sense like locally where it could undergo a localized-circular system of cleaning and reuse. This is something that we as product creators need to do together for our community. Circularity is a big area of opportunity that could really benefit us all, especially for our communities located on islands.
This would be a long-term goal for us.
With tin, it holds great potential for the in-between situation that we are working within— the current local and global infrastructure used by communities, which at this time is recycling. What we would dive back into and optimize is the shape of the tin and the ease of usability for the customer.
Thanks for journeying with us. More to come!
Writer: PueoKea Farms