NATURAL REACTION
I agree with the idea of bringing a new approach to an old problem but last month’s article on biomimetics (‘Designing packs as nature intended’, Packaging News, October 2009) didn’t address the problem. Brainstorming, invented by Alex Osborn, an American advertising man, can produce useful lateral thinking but it has to be relevant.
The article says that, for the packaging industry, the key is to break out of the ‘here’s the product, how do I package it?’ mindset and look to seeds for inspiration because nature produces the seed and the delivery method at the same time – for example, peas grow inside the pea pod. Nature does not distinguish between the product and its packaging, but instead devises how to get the whole thing where it needs to be, the article says. But does that make sense?
Nature doesn’t get the pea, with or without a pod, anywhere beyond the plant on which it grew. Farmers, packaging and supply chain systems get the peas to the consumer, and what’s more removing nature’s pods is the most efficient way of preserving, transporting and storing the peas.
To optimise packaging and supply systems, what we need is joined-up thinking and good ideas from people who understand packaging technologies, material properties and retailing. Trained packaging technologists, in other words. Let’s do that before turning to pigeons, crabs or molluscs.
Jane Bickerstaffe
Director, Incpen
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