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:: Specific Design Brief
Practical Action 2:
Packaging
- further information
PRODUCT DESIGN KENYA
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JUICE AND PEANUT BUTTER
WHAT MATERIALS ARE
AVAILABLE TO USE FOR PACKAGING?
Paper, cardboard
and plastic sheeting are all available locally. Although plastic is probably
the cheapest, it needs to be re-usable as it is not bio-degradeable. All can
be bought in sheets.
HOW JUICE IS MADE
Mary, who works in
the kitchen for Practical Action in Nairobi, makes juice for the staff on a daily basis.
She uses a small blender.
MANGO JUICE.
She uses two mangoes mixed with boiled water to make one litre of juice. She
adds cut pieces of mango to the blender and then adds boiled water to the same
level as the top of the mango. She then blends until a smooth juice is formed.
She buys 50
mangoes per week @ 12 shillings per mango and sells her juice for 25 shillings
per glass. She probably uses six glasses per litre. Her profit margin is
therefore good. However, the same juice would be sold in restaurants and hotels
for 70 sh per glass.
PASSION FRUIT
Mary also makes passion fruit juice using the same method. A quarter kilo of
passion fruit makes a litre of juice. She buys them at 60 sh for a 2 kilo
container. She sells at 30 sh per glass. Elsewhere passion fruit juice sells for
120 sh.
WHAT IS
REQUIRED FOR RE-PACKAGING SOLID COMMODITIES LIKE SUGAR, FLOUR?
A kit which could:
·
divide the foodstuff into the different required quantities for a local market -
flour and sugar are obvious candidates
·
automatically transfer the commodity into appropriate packaging
·
ensure that the packaging was sufficiently attractive to the local market
·
be self-sealing
·
be re-cyclable or re-usable or bio-degradeable
WHAT IS
REQUIRED FOR JUICING, PACKAGING AND MARKETING FRUIT JUICE?
Fruit juicing
People want fresh, sterilised fruit juice available in containers they know are
safe and will not cause them any stomach problems. Currently, many women make
fruit juice for sale locally. They keep it in jugs and it is sold to people in
whatever containers they have available. Some also sell to restaurants and
hotels but have to do so very quickly because of the very short shelf life -
probably no more than 24 hours without any preservative.
Much of the
juicing is done by hand, literally. Women don't have any machinery so will just
squeeze the juice out of the fruits. There are juicers on the market but they
are very expensive. An imported Indian juicer will cost as much as 35,000Ksh.
There are cartons of juice available but they have also been imported, usually
from South Africa. Recently a company began to start packaging juice in Nairobi
but this cannot serve anywhere near the demand.
Mango juice is
the most popular, followed by passion fruit and orange. People like it to be
fresh but also slightly sweetened. They would probably want between 300-500 ml
in a carton.
Requirements
would therefore be (this may involve three different design contexts - a juicer,
the juice, and a carton)
·
a cheap but hygienic juicer operated either manually or using small electric
power
·
a juicer made from local materials that would not rust
·
an additive to lengthen shelf-life
·
a sterile product accredited by the Kenya Bureau of Standards
·
an attractive carton holding between 300 and 500 mls
·
a carton made from locally available materials
·
carton cost of no more than 3sh
·
filled carton to cost 10sh
·
total cost of the kit to be between 2500 and 5000 shillings
Cardboard and
plastic of different gauges are available in Nairobi, though card is more
expensive.
WHAT IS
REQUIRED FOR MAKING, PACKAGING AND MARKETING PEANUT BUTTER?
In the town of Nakuru, a womens group have been producing peanut butter for
sale in the local and adjoining communities. Although they have had some
success, they are very often unable to compete against the national brands of
peanut butter, which people think to be more reliable as they are known brands
with a national reputation. The women think that part of the problem is with the
packaging. They would like to attract a wider market and think the important
people are mothers and young children. The packaging must therefore be good
enough to compete with other brands but also must have a unique selling point.
Some
things to think about
Use images that would be attractive in the Kenyan market
Ensure that all the necessary nutritional information is included on the
container
Find a brand name that would be attractive to mothers and young children
Use materials for the container that are readily available in Kenya either in
new or recycled form
Could the container have another use when the peanut butter has been used?
Ensure you will not be adding to plastic or paper waste
Could your poster be used to attract young children?
Link to images
FURTHER INFORMATION
KEY QUESTIONS
USEFUL REFERENCES
WEST
KENYA
PROBLEM &
COMMODITIES
POSSIBILITIES
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