The real and digital worlds of packaging

The days are gone when packaging was used for nothing more than protecting the product and ensuring an attractive presentation at the point of sale. These days, packaging has to do a lot more. It has to be intelligent and interactive, and it is supposed to track goods along the entire supply chain, to expose counterfeits, to test whether a package has already been opened or to indicate whether a cold chain has been interrupted. Finally, it is supposed to make it possible to pursue new methods of brand communication and to interact with the consumer.

QR (quick response) codes are spreading very rapidly at the moment: in magazines, on placards and on packaging too. More and more merchants and manufacturers of branded products are making use of these two-dimensional codes. If the consumer has a mobile phone with a built-in camera or a smartphone, it can be used to scan in the code printed on the packaging. The phones have an app that decrypts the code and navigates the user directly to the corresponding website of the manufacturer, where consumers can find more information. In this way, the limited analog space on the packaging can be expanded virtually.

For example, the stated goal of Frosta, a producer of frozen foods, is to “remove cooking obstacles”. The company prints a QR code on many frozen vegetable packages. With a smartphone, the consumer can then use the code to navigate to a microsite that presents recipe ideas, for example. Any ingredients that are still needed can then conveniently be bought during the same shopping trip. But that’s not all: In keeping with the trend towards interactivity and networking, users can also enter their own recipe ideas and use interfaces to social media networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Using interactive packaging to boost product appreciation

Coca-Cola has its sights on a different target group. Together with the can manufacturer Ball Packaging Europe, the beverage maker wants to use beverage cans as a link between music and refreshment. A consumer with a mobile phone uses the QR code printed on the can to connect directly to the Coke Music Portal. “This way, the beverage can appeal to several of the customer’s senses at once - taste, hearing, sight - and therefore turns into an interactive, multimedia amplifier of the customer’s enjoyment of the product,” says Gerlof Toenhake, Director of Marketing at Ball Packaging Europe.

QR codes are used for more than just brand communication, however. The printing press manufacturer Heidelberg has developed a technology that protects against product piracy. The products are equipped with security tags. These consist of a pattern randomly generated from copper threads and an associated, unique QR code. The combination of these two elements on the product itself or its packaging ensures a high degree of protection against counterfeits and generates a unique identity comparable to a human fingerprint for each individual product. With a special app that runs on mobile devices like smartphones, it is easy for the final customer to check the authenticity of the products labelled in this way.

The QR code is used by not only manufacturers of branded products but also by merchants. For example, the discount supermarket chain Netto is currently expanding QR coding for its products. Now that all the packaged fruit and vegetable products have been labelled, fresh meat is being tagged with the QR code too. Via smartphone, the customer can obtain information about the origin, quality and nutritional value of the product, in addition to recipes. The spread of QR codes has gained more momentum as a result of the recent E. coli scare and other food scandals. This shows how quickly a technology can become established if it is relatively simple and inexpensive to use.

Because of their cost, RFID (radio frequency identification) tags are not yet suitable for the mass market. If prices fall, this could change quickly, however, because RFID technology has the potential to replace the barcode. Radio frequency technology enables non-contact identification, management and tracking of as many products as is desired, throughout the entire value chain and from production to the consumer. The packaging used for high-priced products is already being made with integrated RFID tags as protection against product piracy and theft.

New development: RFID plus sensor

The Fraunhofer Institute for Physical Measurement Techniques IPM, Freiburg, is going one step further: it has developed special RFID tags in which sensors are integrated into the label. This means temperature sensors can be used to check whether a cold chain has been maintained, for example. In a different variant, gas sensors measure the concentration of the gas ethylene, which allows inferences to be made about the degree of ripeness of many types of fruit.

As the examples show, packaging is taking on a multimedia character and linking manufacturers, the trade and consumers. There is a downside, however: this brave new world of packaging doesn’t yet seem to be fully mature and functionally stable. A study carried out by GS1 (an international organisation that formulates global standards to improve the value chain) and the consultancy GapGemini shows that the product information often is not valid.

Over 90% of the information that British market researchers obtained via mobile barcode scanning was incorrect or incomplete. And how will customers react? Thirty-eight per cent of those surveyed said they wouldn’t buy the product if they can’t trust the data they get via their smartphones. So there is still some work to be done in this regard.

Health consciousness provides impetus for developments

Despite the fact that there are sometimes still problems with the technology and some ‘teething troubles’ that have to be resolved, these difficulties won’t impede the growth in intelligent packaging. Organic and printed electronics in particular have considerable potential to change the world of packaging. The US market research firm MarketsandMarkets estimates that between 2010 and 2015, global sales of intelligent packaging will grow by 8.2% per year to approximately US$24 billion. With a market share of 35%, North America is set to become the largest buyer of active and intelligent packaging.

The health-conscious consumer is applying ever-higher standards to food safety. This is likely to add more impetus to the spread of intelligent packaging, particularly in the fields of dairy products, meat, poultry and ready-cooked meals.

For further information on Anuga FoodTec, visit www.anugafoodtec.com.