Economic and Environmental Assessment †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Economic and Environmental Assessment. Answer: Introduction Contemporary business organizations initiate attractive and hygienic packaging in order to enhance the attractiveness of the product as well as extending the lasting life of the products. This is due to the reason that, in the fast moving consumer goods it is necessary for the business organizations to package their products in such a way that it will have more extended life for the customers and they can store it for a long time (1). Moreover, in the present era of marketing, attractiveness is also important for the products, which cane b further enhanced by packaging. The first product is the plastic container for the skimmed milk. It is been packaged in a hard plastic container due to the reason that it is being offered in 2 litre pack, which cannot be carried with other soft materials. Moreover, the skimmed milk will not be used by the consumers at a time; rather they will use it periodically (2). Thus, this hard plastic container will help to store it conveniently. In addition, the packaging will help to have all the information in the body about the products along with the branding. Thus, brand will be more exposed to the market. On the other hand, the banister downs fresh milk is being provide in a pouch packet. This packet is being designed for more often use by the customers. Thus, pouch packet will help to carry in one hand without having any extra weight (3). Moreover, it can be kept in refrigerators without having the issue of space crunch. It also helps the organizations in branding and designing attractively the packet to enhance the customer awareness. Use of plastic material For the skimmed milk, the packet is of 2 liter and thus a handle to hold and carry is being provided with the container. This facility cannot be possible in any other forms of packaging. On the other hand, plastic container will have very negligible weight of its own. Thus, it will add convenience in the process of transportation (4). A metal container can also be provided with handle, however, being having edible drinks inside, the metal can react in contact with the milk and degrade the quality. Moreover, metal container will have some weight along with increase in involved cost. Thus, plastic container will be durable, cost effective and convenient. In the case of the banister downs fresh milk, the pouch packet will only add to more convenience to the customers. This due to the reason that, the quantity of the product is small and it is for single time consumption only. Thus, involvement of hard plastic or metal will only involve more cost and weight (4). The pouch pack can be stored in any small spaces, which is not possible in the case of hard container. Plastic pouch will have no risk of breaking in case of falling. It will be easy for the consumers to tear it and consumes compared to other forms of packaging. Thus, use of the plastic material in packing both the products is having multiple benefits. For the plastic packaging, environmental implications are the key area of concern. This is due to the reason that, plastic is harmful for environment and it cannot be easily decomposed. However, in the case of packing these two products, degradable plastics will be used in order to reduce its environmental implications (6). The plastic will be manufactured from organic source such as sugarcane. It will ensure that the plastic container can get decomposed without having any negative implications to the soil. Old plastic containers will also be recycled for the new ones; however, it will be kept in mind that the quality of the container should pass the food grade (5). The pouch packet will be above 40 micron and thus will have less environmental impact. The color to be used in the packaging will be organic and food graded in order to ensure their decomposition after use. Labeling the products Packaging has been done on the products and now its time to label the products with all the necessary information. Required information to be provided are the brand name, picture related to the product, product quantity, chart for ingredients, chart of nutritional value, manufactures registered address, customer care contact details, price, year of manufacturing and year of expiry. This primary information will provide the customers with meet all the criterion that they have prior to the initiation of buying decision (7). However, in the packets of both the product, there are some key information which is missing. These include not having any details other than the nutritional chart on both the products. Moreover, in bannister downs fresh milk, the front part of the packet is also not having the product quantity. This will add to inconvenience to the consumers. Price, year of manufacturing, year of expiry, address and customer care contact details are also not being provide. This will create issues in reliability among the consumers. Health claims are being given in the packets with having the nutritional value chart. This will have implication on the labeling requirement due to the reason that, prior to buying, consumers will have the knowledge about the health or nutritional benefits that they can have from the product. Conclusion According to the Australian guide to healthy eating, milk is being made mandatory for all age groups for daily consumption. Children below 2 years are being advised to have milk with natural fat quantity. Thus for them bannister downs fresh milk will be suitable (8). For the above age groups, skimmed milk will be perfect with reduced fat quantity. It is being recommended that for age groups of approx 25 years, 2.5 times servings (each servings equals to 250ml) should be consumed. Milk is being recommended mostly in breakfast. Thus, the portable packaging of these products will enable the consumers to store the products for long use and pouch packs will help them to maintain the average servings in anytime and anywhere. Reference Robertson, G.L., 2016. Food packaging: principles and practice. CRC press. Ebnesajjad, S. ed., 2012. Plastic films in food packaging: materials, technology and applications. William Andrew. Chiu, H.T., Chang, C.Y., Pan, H.W., Chiang, T.Y., Kuo, M.T. and Wang, Y.H., 2012. Characterization of polyurethane foam as heat seal coating in medical pouch packaging application. Journal of Polymer Research, 19(2), p.9791. Raheem, D., 2013. Application of plastics and paper as food packaging materials-An overview. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 25(3), p.177. Accorsi, R., Cascini, A., Cholette, S., Manzini, R. and Mora, C., 2014. Economic and environmental assessment of reusable plastic containers: A food catering supply chain case study. International Journal of Production Economics, 152, pp.88-101. Adrados, A., De Marco, I., Caballero, B.M., Lpez, A., Laresgoiti, M.F. and Torres, A., 2012. Pyrolysis of plastic packaging waste: A comparison of plastic residuals from material recovery facilities with simulated plastic waste. Waste Management, 32(5), pp.826-832. Janssen, M. and Hamm, U., 2012. Product labelling in the market for organic food: Consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay for different organic certification logos. Food quality and preference, 25(1), pp.9-22. Australian Guide to Healthy Eating | Eat For Health [Internet]. Eatforhealth.gov.au. 2017 [cited 2 October 2017]. Available from: https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-guide-healthy-eating