Consumer Packaged Goods in Serious Need of Overhaul

A question that has baffled me for many years is why so many of the consumer packaged goods that we use today still use the same old-school packaging that my great grandparents were accustomed to in the early 1900's. Much of this packaging, in my opinion, has a lot of room for update and improvement.

With all the CPG market research and shopper insights being conducted today, why is it that we have to settle for many of these antiquated package designs. Am I the only one who thinks this odd? Do people truly believe that functionality is at its optimal with these designs or that this is some retro throwback that should conjure impressions of simpler times? I don't think you can really consider something "retro" unless it is absent from the market for a number of years and later resurrected for nostalgia. But then many times where this is the case, at least you have a choice: the old is often positioned side-by-side with the new and improved counterpart.

My top four products that could use a good makeover:

Salt – I'm talking about the standard 26 oz. cylindrical box with that awful aluminum-hinged spout where after invariably severing the skin under your finger nail on engaging the slide; you must then deal with the awkward opening and closing of same. And heaven forbid that you wrench it too hard thereby tearing it out of its port…it will never be the same again. Pushing it too hard into the box port carries with it even more serious implications, however.

Flour – is the only way to package this have to be a paper bag? There's no graceful means of opening this type of packaging without releasing a fine plume of airborne particulates similar to that of forensic talcum used in dusting for prints. Re-closing such packaging is equally as awkward and messy. When a point is reached where you can roll the bag shut it becomes increasingly difficult to store so it's more often wedged or jammed between items to keep from spilling. I wonder, do people really use counter-top canisters all that much?

Milk – I hate the cardboard spouts that need to be slowly torn open and spread apart. Yes, I know there's an arrow indicating which end it is that is supposed to work, but even given that, it's often a clumsy proposition. At least with milk cartons somebody got wise and developed packaging resembling the traditional carton, but only with a plastic screw-top inserted in the top. Why bother – if you're going to redesign, why not go all the way.

Breakfast Cereal – I'm talking about that waxy plastic bag inside the box. Do you cut it…tear it? And if you do manage to pull it apart at the seam like a bag o'chips, there's about a fifty-fifty chance that this can be accomplished without an explosion of flakes, clusters, nuts and dried fruit all over the kitchen area. And then as you consume the product over time you must roll the bag over itself and jam it back in the box with the renegade flakes that somehow find their way outside the bag and into the box. Oh, I suppose I'm now expected to keep a cereal canister on my counter too, right next to the flour!