The Challenge
This pot was commissioned by Tesco for their ‘Finest’ range of chilled soups.
When the pot was commissioned chilled soups were sold in supermarkets in the same pot with a round plan and were made by several different manufacturers with no differentiation between brands and types of soup. A particular issue was that soup manufacturers wanted a pot that could use the same filling lines. The brief was to design something entirely new but at the same minimum cost to manufacture, fill and distribute. RPC also wanted to design something that could be patented to prevent other manufacturers copying the design and thereby alleviate further price wars.
Research into consumers’ responses to the existing pot found:
- Its taper tab difficult to find and to operate.
- When the soup was hot the plastic became soft leading to distortion with the result that its content often spilled.
- The lid was difficult to open.
- The lid had to be completely removed for microwaving with the result that the soup spattered over the oven.
- Having a round plan, it was not easy to pour the soup into bowls.
The Solution
The solution to designing something entirely new was the pear-drop plan.
It has the advantage that although it looks completely different it falls within the ‘design envelope’ of the original round plan pot and can thus pass through the existing filling lines and distribution system with no modification or effect. It also uses the same amount of plastic as the previous design and thus incurs no additional manufacturing cost.
Consumer criticisms are addressed by a different kind of tamper tab, which is clearly visible yet protected by the pot’s rim and familiar from biscuit boxes.
A strengthened rim that does not distort when it is hot.
A softer lid material which is easier to remove;
A small section of the lid is easy to open, so internal pressure is released during heating and the whole lid does not need to be removed so there is no spattering.
The tear drop shape creates a natural pouring point.
The potential for production of this product is massive. RPC currently produce over 6 million pots per year. Injection moulding is expensive in terms of tooling but the more items produced the less the cost per item.
The combination of new design features means that a patent can be granted and therefore RPC’s innovative design cannot be copied.