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PAGE 4 |
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Smarties: The History and the
Facts |
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Over the next few pages I want to address some of the issues
that have made the news over the years. I still don't know how these pages will
develop, but there are a couple of topics I want to cover immediately, so please bear with me as the
pages are not finished yet. |
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LIDS - The Rise and Fall |
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Everyone you speak to about Smarties will talk about the
round tubes with the plastic lid / cap. Depending on the
generation a person is from, they may still
think that the tubes are still round in shape, brown in colour and
sealed with a lid bearing a lower case letter, upper case (capital)
letter, or even a number!
However, there are very few of these people left due to the
recent uproar about the switch from our beloved cylindrical
tubes to HEXATUBES. But what was going on at
Nestle? What were they thinking about changing the tubes and
scrapping the lids that had been around since
the beginning! Did they not know public opinion. Had they lost
touch? There were dozens of petitions, which I didn't sign, but here
are a couple of links to give you a
flavour: |
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I hope you enjoyed reading those! There were other sites like
them and the press had a bit of a field day aswell. So if public opinion was so strong, why the
change... |
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from this... |
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to this... |
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There were theories and just plain old outrage fuelled by
nostalgia. The loss of the lids was a massive blow though
for collectors. After all, the lids had been
round from the beginning... |
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...or maybe not, as this 1940's tube demonstrates with it's tear off paper lid. The 1930's tubes also had the same feature.
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OK. They may not have been around since the beginning, but
the lids had become a national institution (quoted from several of those websites I covered earlier), and so
had the tubes. They were "an icon". So what were Nestle doing
messing about with it? |
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1. It was widely reported at the time of the change that
"mothers" wanted to see the packaging changing as it was
impractical and possibly even dangerous as the
lid was a potential choking hazard. I have now found a quote from Neil Ducray (head of marketing for Nestle Rowntree) in this
BBC article created Friday 18th February 2005: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4276553.stm |
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"We don't change something this famous just because we
feel like it...We have done research that shows kids today have so many different influences that we need
to keep the brand and the packaging fresh and interesting for them. We decided on the Hexatube shape
because it has a tactile feel with lots of edges... Mothers also like the new end because it doesn't come off
easily and spill the Smarties on the
floor." |
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2. Nestle just wanted to cut their production costs and were
concerned more about profit than anything else. You could argue about this one until the cows come home, but
I have found an article on Nestle's website that seems to explain things, though I cannot remember Nestle
ever using this as a reason... |
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Manufacture of Packaging:
A carton manufacturer will produce the packaging, which
should be:
· Made from minimal amounts of material
· Capable of mass production
· Easy to assemble and handle
· Economical of space, for storage
· Economical of weight for handling
Environmental Issues:
Nestlé aims to reduce the impact of packaging at every stage.
It will:
· Use cardboard made from pure wood pulp from
Sweden, where two trees are planted for every tree cut down
· Avoid materials which will have a negative
effect on the environment when packaging is being produced and when it is disposed of
· Reduce packaging by using materials that are
lower in weight and volume, by simplifying the packaging and by increasing the use of recyclable
material. |
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All this was copied, without alteration to the wording, from
this page: http://www.nestle.co.uk/OurBrands/AboutOurBrands/ConfectioneryAndCakes/Packaging+and+preserving.htm
on 22/09/06. |
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This link was not specifically talking about Smarties, but
was a policy document in relation to all of Nestle's products. It does, therefore, affect Smarties tubes
but is not exclusive to them.
Look at the five points in the 'Manufacture of packaging'
section. I bet that Hexatubes beat the old tubes hands down on all five. Obviously this means that as far as
Smarties tubes go, Nestle have saved a packet by changing to Hexatubes, but there is more to it that
that....
Look at 'Environmental Issues'. I think that point number two
is the killer blow for the tubes and their lids. If Nestle are avoiding materials that have a negative effect on
the envronment at the production end and when the consumer throws it away, those little plastic lids
just had to go! But why you ask? They're only small, and I keep mine in the loft, not in a land-fill. Well check
this out... |
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Nestlé Rowntree produced 5,000 million Smarties caps over a 25 year period! |
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What a mind-blowing figure! You can see how that sort of
thing might affect the environment.
I took the info from this link in September 2006, but I think
it is two or three years old:http://www.nestle.com/Our_Brands/Chocolate_Confectionery/Smarties/ |
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