Pack Development

Hello @Tim_Huel Soylent doesnt use now the sqround bottle because their supplier couldnt stand the demand so they returned to a classic bottle shape (I think is a great error):

There is an artlicle about why they chose in the sqround design, to optimise their logistics:

A real life example of which style is more optimised. Look at this cenital image of a drawer

Interesting article about sqround shape:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90131777/why-are-so-many-bottles-sqround

PS: The sqround design is a trend that right now is just a niche thing, in the near future will be a much popular style. Google is forcing right now in Android to use sqround icons, same shape as iOS. This shape will be even more popular in the future.

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This is a good article and I personally think this is a great idea. Saving 15% in terms of box volume would surely make things easier when storing and transporting the bottles. That being said i couldn’t find any information about the effect making sqround bottles has on price and huel is all about its affordability.

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Hello @Tim_Huel Tim, I answered before on the phone and forgot some of the points.

  1. Not patented, its just a design style for bottles that is right now underused.
  2. Soylent doesnt use right now because supplier problems that couldnt handle the max units.
  3. It would have the characteristic logo of HUEL with a white backround as it has now
  4. How to differentiate better with the sqround design? Reduce the neck as possible, making it even more optimised, there is no sqround bottles with a low neck/cap
  5. Block systems, Think about a pastry chef with the flour, its probably the ingrediente that they use the most and buy it frequently (subscription huel) they always puts the flour in their recipients to distribute correctly between the different bakers and for convenience.

I think, as @Phil_C said, that most of heavy huelers would buy that format because of how small to storage is and convenient, I would even offer that option as a subsciption.

It also open a new world of merchandising possibilities, selling a storage can for Huel.

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I would be happy to receive Huel in compressed blocks.

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#Huelerswantblocksandsqround

Hi @Tim_Huel

Just to clarify from my original post – this was just an exercise I did with a view to reducing the impact of the packaging rather than a major brand shift. I work as the solutions manager for the Asean Plus Six region for the largest brand / packaging deployment organisation in the world so no, what I suggested are not assumptions – they are increasingly widely used practices :slight_smile:

Changing the shape format of the bottle is not as simple as ‘oh that looks nice’ as there are many practical considerations to consider especially given the nature of the product.

Patenting a bottle shape is incredibly difficult to do as it really has to be a brand leading iconic shape to do so and very few brands actually go to this trouble and expense. This is referred to a design patent rather than a patent for the bottle production itself. What many prefer to do is trademark design elements of the bottle rather than the whole bottle, such as Evian adding their mountain logo device into the bottles collar while the rest of the bottle is entirely generic. A notable exception to this would be Coke’s famous bottle whose shape is a trademark as well as a design patent and has been for more than a century.

The main reason I did this was as cost and environmental impact exercise – reducing the size of the packaging allows for more to be palletised and therefore reduce the amount of freight required to shift the volumes you produce. Whilst a round bottle is intrinsically stronger at maintaining its structural integrity – at least in a uniform way – it’s also the least efficient as far as maximising space. Clearly this honour goes to anything cubic in nature as it can hold the same volume as a round bottle but in a smaller form factor. This is where the pack developers, designers and engineers skills come in where they can design you a bottle (with or without structural design features to differentiate your brand) that can also meet the requirements of (1) reducing overall shipping volume (2) maintaining acceptable structural integrity and (3) being sufficiently ergonomic and easy for the consumer to handle.

The part about unbranded subscription packaging was a side issue. Yes, there is a risk of diluting brand identity (you can mitigate this with your bottle design) but it should always be a parallel choice for consumers rather than a direct replacement. The main benefit here is production cost and reducing the footprint of your environmental impact. If you look at your current bottle – you have 3 key components at the moment: an opaque PET bottle, cap and polyolefin (Polyethylene or Polypropylene) shrink sleeve. By offering a subscription pack which is inkjet marked ( you could still use the Logo :)) at the point of packing then you are doing away with the entire shrink sleeve so reducing the use of plastic, production times and costs as well as eliminating printing costs and the inks used for it.

Really the flour block has more merit for this than the RTD bottle as you are less likely to use the pouch outside of your home than a RTD bottle – again, offered as an option perhaps together with a merchandised/branded container for repeat use could be a popular choice for existing repeat customers.

In summary – I didn’t really mean this as a solid proposal – just throwing ideas out there to get peoples thoughts (as consumers) on how they feel about these concepts of packaging reduction vs. brand identity :slight_smile:

Sorry – just to clarify – the reduced branded thing definitely only applies to repeat mail order subscription business NOT as a replacement for on shelf retail packs should Huel ever go that route.

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Very interesting, its nice to read something from a professional. :+1:

@Phil_C great post clarifying. I hope the people in charge of the different matter that we commented read this thread.

This guy rocks

Hello @Phil_C, I drank a mineral water months ago from a bottle which had one of the smallest caps that I had ever seen, it had a pop up style, do you know which bottle was? Could be an interesting addition for this thread

Hi you will find that any drink liquid more viscous than water from milk on up to shakes etc, always use wider mouth caps as they are both easier to fill in manufacturing and to drink from – this is when basic physics comes into play as the liquid needs to overcome its own surface tension to pull the liquid away from the container. The larger the neck the easier it is to break this surface tension and pour more easily.

But I am not referring to the wideness only to the tallness of the cap. Maintain the wideness but make it as short as possible

oh - well then yes but it has to be designed carefully as the shorter it is the weaker it will become and also prone to distorting when being twisted open - a structural designer would have to calculate the minimum recommended height to cope with that stress. As an alternative, you could use a tempered aluminum rip cap - this would reduce the height dramatically, improve recyclability but would also increase bottling costs and reduce the neck opening around 20%.

Can’t see any arguments against sqround bottles for RTD, but I definitely need the bags for the powder at work, that brick would not be suitable

It would be good as an option alongside the bags @RyanT

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@Bee Yes Ryan, always as an option, its for the heavy users. Also it should be an option only available after X amount of purchases to make it desirable and to be sure that the user that buys the vacuum bricks really knows and loves the product before buying it, and he is just focused on optimise the packaging.

Then, the Huel team develops a box for the powder and its a marketing strike, because brand is f… important hahah.

Also, the bricks are great for an ad, really easy and powerful to communicate, very easy and funny to advertise, and the fact that is not available for all users creates some hype, to make it more prestigious

For example, what games usually do with unlocked items/characters, this could be done with the Brick

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You are right it would be a good option

Dead interesting thread we have here…some really good ideas, and thinking outside the…um…bottle.

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What if Huel didnt just reduce the big cap they have, what if they turn their bottles into capless bottles?

The good thing is that most of the deliveries are sent directly to the client in boxes. A format with traditional caps would be used for vending machines and supermarkets.

In your experience, do you think this is possible for the Huel liquid and wideness?

Huel could also partner with a ONG to develop a Cap made of carbon/CO2/… and send one in the first RTD order, to use just as extra protection and as branding. Capless bottles also always as an option

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@airiartev Wouldn’t they damage more easily?

i like the way you’re thinking but i would worry about durability when it’s being sent out. Also with the cap sent with your first order, the point of RTD is that it’s easy i don’t want to have to wash the cap before reusing it.