PACKAGING DESIGN AND FOOD LOSS: A DISCUSSION GROUNDED ON THE OBSERVATION OF PRODUCT PACKAGING ON SUPERMARKET SHELVES

Abstract

This article aims to discuss aspects of packaging which may be associated with food loss. Not only can this theme be approached through the environmental perspective (concerning the use of resources and raw materials), but also from the social one (as in food security and hunger). Thus, ten packaging categories were observed: yoghurt, requeijão, tomato sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, olive oil, salad dressing, fruit jam and butter. Aspects observed include those of technical and communicative purpose, such as format, materials, types of opening, information on how to preserve contents and several others. This was done in order to identify in supermarket shelves the negative and positive outcomes of packaging within the scope of preventing possible food loss. It is concluded that while solely observing packaging is not enough to draw conclusions with regard to fully emptying their contents, it is still possible to identify critical cases of possible food loss and, therefore, highlight the designer's role and responsibility in packaging design and recognise them as an important agent in the issue of food loss.

Keywords

• Packaging
• Food loss
• Design.