Recently, PepsiCo announced that it will launch the first "bottle-free" Pepsi Cola in China in April. According to the survey, this is the first time that PepsiCo has launched a bottle-free product in the Chinese market, which also means that PepsiCo will become one of the first companies to launch bottle-free beverage products in the Chinese market.
This time, Pepsi Cola removed the plastic label and ink printing at the bottle body and the bottle cap respectively, and retained the classic patent bottle design as a whole. The bottle is presented in relief, and information such as the product name and shelf life is printed using laser technology.
Image courtesy of: Brand
It is understood that PepsiCo's "unlabeled" beverage bottle is the second beverage bottle in China to be listed with unlabeled products after Master Kong's iced black tea and sugar-free iced black tea. At the beginning of 2022, the two major beverage giants have adopted this environmental protection design in China. Although there are only two cases in China, "unlabeled" beverage bottles have been popular in foreign countries for a while. Brands have "torn" the label, what do they want to do?
First, what is "unlabeled"?
In the beverage industry, the main manifestation is that the label with brand logo and product information is no longer posted, and this information mainly appears on secondary packaging such as outer cartons.
It is reported that beverage bottles are often made of recyclable PET, but the label is rare, and the material of the bottle cap is not the same, so the bottle body, bottle cap and label need to be sorted manually or mechanically during the recycling process. The brand removes the label of the bottle body, which can not only reduce the use of plastic in the production process, but also make the recycled material more single and reduce the recycling process. The manufacture and recycling of high-quality recyclable PET bottles is a key point in the environmental path of beverage brands.
Many foreign beverage brands have begun to try "labelless", but at present, labelless beverages are still a new thing in China.
Second, which beverage brands are "tearing off the label"?
In general, product packaging is an important "display window" for brands, which can quickly attract the attention of consumers. Therefore, most brands will put a lot of effort into designing labels. But on the other hand, according to statistics, nearly 300 million tons of garbage are generated by humans every year, and in recent years, more and more brands have "torn off the label" for the sake of protecting the environment, supporting sustainable development and conveying the brand concept, and integrating with the product.
For example, in 2019, Japan's Asahi Beverage Company also launched unlabeled packaging. The official website leaflet tells the original intention of this design: in Japan, where the garbage classification and recycling standards are relatively strict, the non-recyclable labels on the bottles and the recyclable bottles should be treated separately. Asahi captured this user need and launched a series of new packaging products without tearing labels.
In July 2020, mineral water brand Evian also launched a "renewable bottle", which uses all three materials
For example, at the end of 2021, Coca-Cola launched the first unlabeled PET bottle called "Coca-Cola Contour Label Free" in South Korea. This PET bottle, the bottle body without any label, is sold exclusively through online channels, and the product related information is listed on the secondary packaging. This product is available in two types: original Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero, the difference being the color of the cap.
In early 2022, Nestlé Japan also launched "unlabeled" coffee. This coffee adopts the design of unlabeled PET bottles and is sold as a whole in the form of 12 bottles per box, with ingredient names and other logos
In the domestic market, in mid-February this year, Master Kong launched the first unlabeled drink in China. Master Kong's 330ml iced tea and sugar-free iced tea have launched unlabeled PET bottle packaging with the main low-carbon concept in the master Kong beverage flagship store. Its price is the same as that of traditional products, and it is sold only per box.
Third, why should brands go to labels?
1. Low-carbon environmental protection has become one of the important issues of the brand
In the past two years, in the context of global "carbon neutrality" and "carbon peaking", all walks of life are exploring the sustainable development path of plastics and plastic products, and the beverage industry is the first to bear the brunt. According to a global kantar research report, 87.5% of consumers care about whether the products they buy meet the criteria of "reduced packaging", and 20% of them take daily actions to reduce daily packaging waste.
In the global context of achieving sustainable development, companies have proposed sustainable development strategies. Specifically, for example, in April 2020, Suntory launched a limited edition green tea packaging in Japan, the bottle tag covering the bottle body was replaced by a small label on the shoulder of the bottle, and the original label position was occupied by Zhao Cai Cat and Dharma, and the transparent and fresh brown color was in full view. Sales of this bottled green tea increased by 50% over the same period.
2, "no label" ≠ no brand, but also can bring differentiated attention
According to Innova Market Insights, 57% of global consumers agree that when a familiar brand changes its packaging design, it will attract their renewed attention. Nowadays, a drink that removes the label often attracts media and consumer attention, which will also bring a lot of additional exposure and positive publicity to the brand.
Taking Master Kong's iced black tea as an example, in the brand micro of Master Kong's iced black tea, users' comments and likes for unlabeled content are significantly higher than other content released by them. On February 18, Master Kong's unlabeled bottle was unveiled, and on February 19, the WeChat index rose by 1120%.
Labelless also has the meaning of "breaking free and seeing things with equal eyes". In order to draw attention to the problem of ethnic discrimination around the world, Coca-Cola launched the "This Ramadan, Remove Labels" campaign in the Middle East.
3, "no label" is not only environmental protection, but also a consumer trend
For "tearing off the label", the most worrying problem for many brands is that it will cause the brand's own recognition to be reduced. But in fact, we also see that not only the food and beverage industry, such as clothing, beauty and other fields, have appeared a trend of no label, such as the domestic fire clothing brand Ubras, banana are "tearing off the label", some foreign niche skin care brands also use "minimalist packaging" as a brand selling point.
Because the trend of lightweight packaging such as labelless, label-down, and universal bottles can resist excessive packaging, the product can return to the product itself, return more value to consumers, and gradually become a consumer trend.
Resources:
"Coca-Cola, Nestle, Master Kong have "run naked", "no label" into a new trend? 》
"Without labels, would you still buy drinks?" 》
The material and maps for this article are from the official and the Internet
Please contact to remove the infringement
The copyright of the article belongs to the original author and is not allowed to be commercialized
Empower Creativity