World Sight Day: Kellogg’s scores with special packaging
It makes shopping easier for the blind and visually impaired and impresses competition juries: the cereal packaging that Kellogg’s and MM created together with the British Royal National Institute of Blind People.
The innovative packaging of Kellogg’s Coco Pops has won the silver medal “Marken-Magnet” (“Brand Magnet”) in the category “Impulse at the POS” awarded by the German trade magazine Lebensmittelpraxis. The special thing about the cereal box: it is the first food packaging ever to use the new NaviLens system, which makes life easier for the blind and visually impaired in many everyday situations.
Innovative NaviLens-Technology
NaviLens works with colourful codes – similar to QR codes, which smartphones can recognise from a distance. Via an app, they make important information accessible to visually impaired users – information that would otherwise remain hidden from them. NaviLens already helps with orientation in the public transport systems of many major cities across the world, but in the case of Kellogg’s it takes on a different task: In a British study, nine out of ten blind and visually impaired people stated that the information on food packaging was difficult or impossible for them to read. Thanks to the innovative solution, all they have to do is point their phone towards the box and they can have ingredients, allergens and recycling details read aloud to them or read them on their device using accessibility tools.
Braille embossing on recycled cartonboard
In addition, the box was equipped with a large embossing in Braille, with which the blind can feel information about the product. This technology is common for medicine packaging, but still a rare special feature in the food sector. Braille embossing also places special demands on the cartonboard quality. A board grade from MM Board & Paper developed especially for Kellogg´s perfectly meets these requirements. MM Packaging UK converted the recycled cartonboard into the award-winning box.
Trial run in UK
Kellogg’s launched the Coco Pops package to mark the World Health Organization’s World Sight Day in October 2020, initially in a limited edition in around 60 Co-op supermarket stores in the UK. Following the success of this package, Kellogg’s Europe is now adding NaviLens to all of its new cereal portfolio packaging.
