Accessibility of Packaging

The 21^st Century is the rise of the age of technology, and numerous companies have to embrace the emerging trends that the society needs to remain contended with the services or goods offered. Packaging accessibility for food and beverages in a fir-for-purpose is an indication that the packaging should be sustainably designed to meet market and consumer needs. With the increasing age bracket, demography as a factor has been an issue for aged people with disabilities due to the already required use of seals and barriers to keep the product fresh and secure (Bell et al., 2016). Inclusivity on the accessibility of food and beverage packaging lacks consideration of the disabled, those with restricted movement, visual impairment, or those who lack access to a well-suited ease-of-opening package.

Consumers’ situations are an inspiration to companies to consider their circumstances while designing a product for their use. To give consumers control over the products that solve their needs, it’s a consideration that their issues are first handled. In this case, designing an easy-to-open package for the old, and the physically disabled will give such consumers control over the content they receive, and that is being presented to them (Wellard et al., 2011). Technology is among the consistent innovative frameworks that geared inclusivity and made the varied choice for consumers to choose from. With easy-to-open packages that are accessible, by people of all ages, by those with differing disabilities, and those with unique considerations, the design should amount to their level of packaging knowledge and preferred style of opening.

Legibility of packaging has also been an issue among the aging population. To consider factors such as nutrition facts, and ingredients for foods during packaging is set to add the product value among its consumers. Packaging legibility should prioritize content while acknowledging the consumer group it serves (Wellard et al., 2011). Packaging for the visually impaired should include the use of special features such as braille on the sticker of the product. Nutrition facts and ingredients are also important to those with health issues, therefore, the legibility of packaging should account for different sub-groups of people in a community that might be having arthritis, blood sugar levels, on a diet, and those with age-related chronic diseases (Bell et al., 2017). An improved accessibility packaging and its legibility will acknowledge and priories such concerns to help add value to the already existing product value and design coverage. Upgrading product packing and sticker legibility create a considerable pattern that steers futuristic concerns to provide a comparable experience that suits the needs of all consumers without undermining the quality of the product.

As different products such as metallic containers/cans, plastic containers, and bottles offer s dynamic designs dependent on the contained. The design used should employ guidelines as the protocol to the different sets of targeted consumers (Bell et al., 2017). For the young consumers, it should be appealing, easy to grab, and easy-to-open, for the aging consumers, the product’s design needs to set handling guidelines, its labeling methods, easy-to-open guidelines with either the assistance of tools or not, as well as visible ingredients, nutritional value, and its expiry dates.

References

Bell, A. F., Walton, K. L., & Tapsell, L. C. (2016). Easy to open? Exploring the ‘operability of hospital food and beverage packaging by older adults. Appetite, 98, 125-132.

Bell, A., Tapsell, L., & Walton, K. (2017). Food packaging and older adults. In Food for the Aging Population (pp. 349-370). Woodhead Publishing.