Japan’s Friendly Packaging Philosophy from Two Milk Packaging

In 1954, the School Lunch Act was passed by the Japanese government. Since then, the government began to provide milk in schools to enhance the physical fitness of school children. Now, milk is almost the most important national drink in Japan, and the Japanese also generally believe that milk is a beverage that contains the necessary daily nutrients.

Let’s take a look at two milk package designs to see how Japan’s friendly packaging philosophy is implemented:

1.Small notch in milk packaging.

Have you ever noticed a small notch on the top of the roof-shaped milk carton packaging? This notch is designed for the visually impaired.

According to a survey conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries targeting the visually impaired, it is difficult for visually impaired people to distinguish the contents of beverages from paper-made packaging. In response to this need, Japanese milk suppliers began to manufacture and supply such packaging with a small notch on the upper edge of the container so that visually impaired people could distinguish the difference between milk and other drinks when making purchasing decisions.

2.School Milk Without Straws

In the summer of 2020, a subsidiary of Nippon Paper Group (日本製紙グループ) launched a new milk carton packaging, SchoolPOP®.

The design of the traditional gable top milk carton makes it challenging to put one’s fingers into the top and open the container, so a straw is often required. This gable top milk carton from SchoolPOP® only changes the proportions of the original structure, but is able to make the process of inserting one’s finger to open the carton easier. As a result, this smart design allows users to drink the milk directly and easily.

This new packaging design that allows consumers to drink directly can eliminate the needs for disposable plastic straws. It is an intelligent design that is friendly to both users and the environment. It can be seen as one of the best examples of Japanese “friendly” packaging. This clever idea led SchoolPOP ® to win the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Manufacturing Industry Director Award at the 2021 Japan Packaging Contest.

With a second thought, we can make packaging friendlier

In the era of sustainability and environmental protection, Fudy believes that packaging can do more. Sometimes it is only a tiny change of packaging that is required to solve the current user’s long predicament. We hope to make more practical and eco-friendly packaging in the future.

Power for the possible!

We are Fudy, your product packaging consultant!

SIURCE

　 2021 JAPAN PACKAGING CONTWST

　 SchoolPOP ®

　 Japan Milk: All You Need to Know About Milk in Japan