:: Specific Design Brief

Practical Action 2: Packaging - further information

PRODUCT DESIGN KENYA - POSSIBILITIES

OTHER PACKAGING POSSIBILITIES IN KENYA

• Potato chips (crisps to us) are sold everywhere. Women make them in their homes and sell them by the side of the road and in small restaurants. They are often eaten with tomato sauce, also available at the road or restaurant. An hygienic, possibly aluminium-coated but very cheap packet would be a major improvement to their marketability.
• Sausages or sambusas (a crispy pancake stuffed, e.g. with pork, mincemeat, beans and vegetables very similar to a samosa). They are sold along the streets and by people at road junctions who sell them to customers in passing cars, taxis and mini-buses. They are often kept warm on a small charcoal fire. They are also often handled when given to the customer. A packet that is heatproof, easy to remove but to use as a holder to prevent burning fingers whilst still hot, which covers the whole of the sausage, and which is also attractive, would help the process look much better, be more hygienic and therefore produce greater sales.
• Maize (sweet corn) is possibly the most common snack. It is either boiled or grilled in the market place, and elsewhere on the streets, again being sold at road junctions. However, once cooked, the maize is often left in the open air when dirt and dust may make it much less attractive. A packet for a maize cob to keep it covered and warm would be useful for street vendors. Alternatively, a means of covering the cobs hygienically whilst they are stored and a slide-in packet to serve them in.
• Peanuts are sold in small quantities served into newspaper after being scooped from the sack or container. They are usually sold in 50 or 100 grams. 50 grams cost 10 shillings. A really cheap plastic or polythene packet would make them much more attractive.
• Meat bought from the butcher's shop (butchery as they are rather alarmingly called) is often handled and placed in newspapers or other re-cycled paper. An hygienic bag for displaying and selling meat could be designed.

In all the possible situations, customers look for evidence that the processing has been hygienic but also are attracted by bright, colourful packaging. Cost would be the vital element. Unless packaging can be produced really cheaply, it will not be worthwhile vendors buying the packaging.


FURTHER INFORMATION
KEY QUESTIONS
USEFUL REFERENCES
WEST KENYA
PROBLEM & COMMODITIES
JUICE & PEANUT BUTTER