More Berry+

The folks from The Moderns were nice enough to send over some samples of Berry+, the innovative new laundry detergent packaging we featured last week. This has to be the coolest laundry detergent packaging I have ever seen. Lots more photos below!

Comments

[JESSICA WRIGHT]

Is this the most over packaged product I've seen this year... possibly.

[Clay Stricklin]

The packaging is without a doubt innovative and beautiful, but it seems very excessive, especially for an eco-friendly product. The round shape is very inefficient (poor pack/product ratio), and there are multiple pack materials that would be hard to separate and recycle (metal clips, paper inserts and stickers, 80% bioresins and 20% ??)

It is not enough in this day and age to create beautiful designs. Good design should be beautiful, functional, AND sustainable.

[Dominic]

Very Cool! Looks like something DNA from Jurassic Park would be transported in.

[shredz]

Since when does every single freaking thing to hit the market have to appease the most "eco-friendly" minded person. You think you're saving the planet driving around in your Prius, but considering all of the energy used to make that car, I'm doing a better job in my SUV. This is brilliant packaging and if you can't appreciate the beauty and functionality of it then I feel sorry for you.

[olivia n]

i hope there are refills involved...

[bobcat]

The coolest thing about this is that it is berry based and the packaging material is 80% plant based. That being said, ten loads of laundry is not very much considering what the average bottle of detergent holds, and the packaging to content ratio is nuts! Do you really need a sticker on the outside? Why can't it just fit together? What about that insert with 'instructions' on it? It's laundry detergent, pretty self-explanitory. Plus, it's just repeating information we already know. Looks like the designer was a little self-indulgent.

If this highly concentrated soap was sold in a 32 oz bottle like many other detergents, you could get about 50 loads. Think about that one bottle vs. the amount five of these packages would produce. Seems more detrimental when you think about it that way, doesn't it?

[Sam McMillan]

Dematerialization anyone? Greenwashing? C'mon, let's get smarter than this.

[Dan Lewis]

WOW -- With this much over packaging it's hard to imagine that saving the planet from detergent by using micro-doses of a plant base replacement isn't more than offset by the energy and infrastructure required to recycle all of the packaging.

[anna]

@ Shredz – it is people with minds like you that will stop the world going ’round. We really do need to change the smallest things in life, and it’s too bad that most people don’t think what they do matters.

I think this packaging is gorgeous – but nevertheless it is overpackning to it’s most. I feel sorry not for you, but for our planet for not seeing that.

[Jennie]

Overpackaged in my opinion. unnecessary. and they kind of look like tampons too?

[JESSICA WRIGHT]

You infuriate me, I couldn't care less what is and isn't eco friendly apart from this pack clearly states ,.....
FIRST AID ...FOR THE PLANET.
I'm a packaging designer and I can tell you that this ISN'T brilliant packaging. I presume you designed it.

[Nikole]

@ Shredz

While they have some interesting ideas, the packaging to me is a little excessive from a design prospective. And I agree, not every beautiful product should be ripped on if it is less than eco-friendly, but this product is touting its eco-friendliness. They could have been a little more thoughtful given that is their main selling point. These are both design issues.

[Jon Weinberg]

Hey Skeptics,

I work for The Moderns, the multidisciplinary brand strategy agency and design think tank that developed the developed the packaging, branding, and go-to-market strategy for Berry+.

Firstly, let me assure you that all of the packaging is 100% recyclable (and easy to separate and recycle its individual parts). To be specific, the microdoses fall under the #5 category. Moreover, as the post explains, the outer packaging is is 80% non-GMO, plant-based bio-resin (PSM), which uses less energy to produce than other plastics. Rest assured that new packaging innovations will come forth as the product evolves.

I understand why you're hesitant to accept that the packaging can be so eco-friendly, but Berry+ is a pioneer in this respect. All Berry+ products use 30% less packaging by weight than the average 32-load jug detergent. It takes 3.67x fewer trucks to transport, which gives Berry+ an even smaller carbon footprint.

Aside from its 100% plant-based ingredients, Berry+ is also cold-water formulated, which saves you roughly $0.17 per load on energy costs.

I hope this answers your questions. Feel free to reach out to us with any further questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Jon

[silje]

I bought a pack of these in New York last month, because I absolutely loved the idea of laundry detergent made almost exclusively from berries. I must say the design did, initially intrigue me as well, as it was very different to all of its competitors, However the materials used were horrific, and almost even before i managed to get it home, a lot of the prints had scractched and come off. Don't seem like this was done by someone with a wide amount of material experience

[moderns]

Greetings all.

while i commend berry plus for there efforts it seems their work with the moderns packaging seems to work against their simple innovation. looking into the Company the moderns seems to reveal a company with this as there only recent client and very little goto market efforts. while the designs seem to have some nice solutions it seems the company hasn't really understood that simplicity in packaging and regard for the environment means simple design. special packaging printing little booklets individual tubes, mold packaging and carrabeans and chains to hold synthetic paper booklets with lots of ink seem to look nice and feel right in the mind. but require much more energy and over-develop points that could be simplified. As a person who has worked in the advertisement industry, it would appear that this developed language bottles and design reveals the client has been manipulated and tangled by this design firm to excessive designs to retain the client and exploit there own ideas not the ideas of the product. while ignoring even cultural nuances such as using the term "over dose" to describe laundry detergent to a college age demographic.

[Sara]

When I first looked at the packaging I DID NOT know that this detergent came from BERRIES! Brilliant! Even though the brand is Berryplus I guess I just thought it was some sort of obscure brand name that wanted to sound cool or sound like a children's cereal. However after reading the back it became clear. Very neat idea. I do have some problems with the packaging. Ok so it IS made out of berries and it IS good for the planet, but why sooo many stupid little pieces in the packaging? Do you need a tag with a carabiner? Do you need those little inserts to promote how "green" it is? I say no. The simpler, the better. Less distractions, gets right to the point with the consumer. It sort of looks like birth control to me haha. With that being said, I do love the design! It's adorable! And even though I had some criticism about it, it can only help the designers in the future to make this product better (b/c it's a great idea!) :D

[WINN]

I have to agree with most of the comments. It's beautiful, innovative, but also very excessive for an eco-friendly product.