Tesco nutritional packs by Rocket

Packaging design for Tesco’s ‘traffic light’ nutritional labelling initiative has been undertaken by Rocket Design Consultants, one of the supermarket chain’s roster consultancies.

Tesco packs carrying red, amber and green coded information on fat, sugar and salt levels, are to be put on ‘open-ended’ trial from September. The new information appears on 800 products initially and will sit alongside the existing calorie and carbohydrate measures.

‘The design is really a communication project. We have to get the information on there in the clearest possible way,’ says Rocket director Marc Seviour. ‘It is a feat to get it all on, particularly on the smaller packets.’

The trial represents Tesco’s attempts to provide a more informed choice for customers and comes as the obesity debate intensifies.

Under a separate initiative, the supermarket chain is also introducing a Glycaemic Index, initially, to 50 of its branded goods. Foods with a low GI are digested at a slower rate, providing a more gradual, sustainable source of energy. According to Jeremy Lindley, head of packaging design at Tesco, ‘There is an ever-increasing demand from consumers for more information, and so the task of designing simple, clear packaging becomes harder. They need to

grab attention and provide a lot of information.’

Rocket was chosen from the Tesco design roster, without a pitch, on the basis of its expertise in the ‘detailed’ areas of labelling, says Lindley.