Sunday 23 November 2014

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: Practical Ideas (Experiential Marketing)

Having considered the idea of creating something which relates to experiential marketing for my COP3 practical, I have started to look out for any examples which I may find inspiring. Below is an example representative of the food and drink industry.








Saturday 22 November 2014

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: Research (Use Your Loaf Article)

Use your loaf to prevent food waste


Live better: Sliced bread, close-up

Tomato gratin, panzanella salad, or herb-crusted roast fish: don't bin bread, just try a little alchemy with the end of the loaf.
Can you believe that bread – that most useful of staples – is the food we throw away most often? A whopping 24 million slices get thrown in the bin every day in the UK – and that's just from our homes. The good news is we're getting better: that figure is more than a third less than we were throwing away in 2007 – but it's still a massive waste!
We all do it: if you think you don't, keep a food diary or put all your food waste into a container for a week. I didn't believe I wasted food, especially bread, before I started working at Love Food Hate Waste, but I'm ashamed to say I did. Those few slices at the bottom of the bag really do add up: 24 million slices of bread would stretch up and down Snowdon 110 times, or the Shard building in London almost 400 times. Happily, I now buy only what I need and use what I buy.
Because we don't like to run out of staple foods, such as bread and milk, we buy some 'just in case'. Most of the bread that ends up in the bin has either gone past the date shown on its wrapper, or we think it has 'gone off'. But the 'best before' date simply means the bread is in its peak condition before that date – it is perfectly fine to eat, providing it still looks and smells OK.
Hopefully these tips will help you to end the bread waste in your house, as they have in mine, and thereby reduce the damage that food waste does to the environment.
• Keeping bread in the fridge is a bad idea – it goes stale very quickly there, so the good old bread bin is best.
• If, like me, you always end up with half a loaf going off at the end of the week, divide your loaf in half when you get it home on shopping day. Put half in the original bag, sealed with a bag clip or clothes peg (use a straw to draw out the air from the bag when it's sealed – it keeps it fresher for longer) and put the other half (sliced if needed) in a sealed bag or pot in the freezer. Toast the frozen slices straight from the freezer; it tastes just as good – the only time it will taste a bit 'freezery' is if your bag or pot isn't sealed, because the frost gets on to the bread and causes freezer burn.
• If you've bought a whole unsliced crusty loaf and it's gone hard, splash it with a bit of cold water and reheat it in the oven to bring the crust back to life.
• Look out for smaller loaves that have been introduced by Hovis and Kingsmill, among others, to make it easier for us to only buy what we need.
• If you end up with bread crusts that nobody eats, freeze them. Then, if you make fish cakes, bean burgers, savoury crumbles etc, simply take a couple out of the freezer, defrost them in the microwave and blitz in a food processor (or use a grater) to make breadcrumbs.
• Try out some bread-saving recipes – including tomato gratinroast-herb fillet of fishpanzanella'le pudding', and garlic and bread soup (it's amazing) from lovefoodhatewaste.com.
There really is satisfaction to be had from using up the end of the loaf!
Emma Marsh heads up WRAP's Love Food Hate Waste. For more information you can also go to WRAP's main site here.
Interested in finding out more about how you can live better? Take a look at this month's Live Better challenge here.
The Live Better Challenge is funded by Unilever; its focus is sustainable living. All content is editorially independent except for pieces labelled advertisement feature. Find out more here.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: Meeting with Tesco and 40 Organisations

Today I had a meeting with 40 different groups of people from all over Liverpool. This meeting was organised during the last meeting I had with Shelley from Tesco and Tony Scott. When we arrived there were 6 different round tables to sit around. Everyone was mixed up so that we could all get to know each other. It was quite a daunting experience to some extent as there were a lot of important people there who could actually really help me and my project/context of practice. 



We started off by going round each table and introducing ourselves to everyone else in the hall. I explained how I was a graphic design student looking to design something which would help the community to reduce food and packaging waste in some way. I also said that I had had a lot of involvement with Love Food Hate Waste and I am hoping to work with them closely in the future. 

Mark and Ben who I had previously emailed from Tesco were both there, one of them was sat on my table. I wrote down as many notes as I could with information regarding certain activity in Liverpool and what everyone is trying to achieve within their own agendas.


I spoke to Mark and Ben about the idea we had had about improving the location of their food collection bank within the store. They explained their reasoning behind having it at the end of the store, because people have been known to actually take food out of the basket and keep it for themselves. I also explained the idea of having a POS display on the way in to encourage people to donate more food and be aware of it before they start shopping as opposed to afterwards. With them having their design team down in London, I found it hard to convince them to allow me to participate in some way. I decided that it would probably be easier to focus on Love Food Hate Waste instead, as I already have Tony as a contact, and I will be more likely to design something which can be applied to the real world. 


I was also introduced to Liz Goodwin who is in charge of WRAP. Tony Scott introduced me to her, which was brilliant as we were able to discuss everything they already do and their plans for the future. Liz was saying how successful Love Food Hate Waste has been.


At the end of the meeting, Shelley gave everyone a little bag with a Christmas card and sweets to say thank you for attending. I took it upon myself to use this as an opportunity to explain my conversation with Tesco and how it is probably going to be too hard to make our initial idea happen. She said she would try her best and keep thinking of any ideas. 



One thing I really noticed today, was the fact that every individual organisation had their own agenda and their own targets. I discussed this with Tony at the end of the meeting and said it would make a lot more sense for them to all group together, have a larger budget to work with, and try and achieve their goals as a community. 

Shelley mentioned that it would be good to design a magazine which could be printed and given out to each individual organisation so that everyone is aware of what each other is doing within the community, because at the moment a lot of them are just down the road from each other and don't really know what they are doing. I have offered to design this magazine, so this could be a potential future live brief to work on which is really positive. 

Sunday 16 November 2014

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: Emails Prior to Meeting

Email sent to Tesco contacts:
Dear ___
I am a third year Graphic Design student from Leeds college of Art. I am currently writing my dissertation about the food industry, and have a keen interest in packaging design so will be focusing my written element on food and packaging waste. I will be attending the meeting next Tuesday 18th November at the Florence Institute, but thought I would email you in advance to give you a bit of background information, so that we can have a more in depth discussion in person.
I met Tony Scott (from Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority) at Liverpool Food Festival where we discussed the national Love Food Hate Waste scheme. He has since introduced me to Shelley Whatmore at the Tesco store in Toxteth. I was fortunate enough to have a meeting with them both today to discuss potential ideas for how we could raise awareness and try and reduce food and packaging waste in Liverpool.
We came up with several ideas, one of which we feel has potential to be hugely successful and we would love to try and develop as far as possible in hope that it could eventually be used in multiple Tesco supermarkets. I understand that the next Neighborhood Food Collection will be between the 24th-29th November, but we would like to try and push this further by doing the following:
Setting up a point of sale display in the entrance of Tesco with Love Food Hate Waste (and anyone else who would like to be involved!) leading up until Christmas which explains to customers how they can help others who are less fortunate and in need of food over the festive period. The scheme could be called something along the lines of 'Feed a family' or 'Feed a friend'. Each customer that enters Tesco would be greeted with a reusable shopping bag and leaflets informing them of possible food products they could purchase to create a full meal for those in need. The bag could take the same form as a bag for life or maybe even a recyclable bag, encouraging people to do it more than once. This bag could then be emptied at the end of their shopping experience and collected all together, in the same way it is now. 
This is so that customers don't simply finish all of their shopping and then think about the Food Bank as secondary thought, instead they will be made aware of it as soon as they enter the supermarket! Evidence from organisers of Food Banks suggests that not all donated food is suitable or appropriate for a healthy or nutritional meal (how many meals can you make from a tin of beans?). We would like to direct people to donate a range of wholesome foods. In addition, by asking people to feed a family would indicate that they would buy more of Tesco’s products. For example a bag of rice would be welcomed but by adding a Tesco tin of chicken curry would also make it more appetising and filling. Providing the ingredients for a meal therefore increases the amount of money spent in Tesco’s whilst helping a good cause.
For this idea to develop I would love to be able to speak to anyone involved with the design of any POS displays (to enable me to be able to design/work with a team of designers to produce the end result), and would also love any feedback or suggestions. 
I will be at the meeting next week but would love to hear from you before then!

Kind regards,
Laura Wallbridge-Bruce
Response 1:
Hi Laura,
Thanks for getting in touch. Your ideas sound interesting and I have forwarded your email onto our food waste lead. I’d be happy to talk more at the meeting so that I can understand a bit more and provide any guidance on what may or may not be possible.
Kind regards,
Mark
Response 2:
Hi Laura,
Thank you for your note and I am looking forward to meeting you on Tuesday, we can have a good catch up then.
Sounds like you have some really great ideas, we do have a few policies and procedures that we need to ensure we maintain around the front of our stores and the use of POS, we can talk through these Tuesday, but I am sure we have an opportunity to work together on lots of ideas.
See you Tuesday
Ben

Wednesday 12 November 2014

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: Meeting with Tony and Shelley from Tesco

After meeting with Tony Scott several times, I had mentioned to him whether it would be possible for me to be put in contact with Tesco to discuss the opportunities of working with them in some way to allow my practical outcome for COP3 to be applied to the real world. As soon as I mentioned it, he got in touch with his contact at Tesco and organised a meeting for us on November 12th. 

I wrote down all of my ideas on paper and spent a couple of hours discussing them with Tony and Shelley. I found this really interesting and quite eye opening at the same time. Shelley works at a store in Liverpool and tries to bring the community closer, by encouraging them all to work together to achieve results where food waste in concerned. I explained how I am a graphic designer, and how although food is directly related, I have to produce an outcome which is directly related to packaging design, as this is what I am interested in and what I want to showcase in my portfolio when I graduate. 

She said that she would help me in anyway possible. When all three of us were discussing various ideas, we eventually came up with an idea which we could potentially pitch to Tesco. The idea is based around having a POS display in the entrance of Tesco, which have information leaflets/reusable bags to take around the supermarket with you and fill up to place in the food collection box at the end of the shopping experience. All three of us were extremely enthusiastic and Shelley invited both of us to attend a meeting with Tesco as well as all of the local organisations in the area, to discuss potential ideas for the future. 

Shelley provided me with the email addresses and contact details for a variety of different people, including Mark Thomas and Ben Davis who are both managers within Tesco. I was so pleased with the results from this meeting and very excited about the future meetings and the potential for ideas to grow and develop. 








Tuesday 11 November 2014

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: Research (Below The Breadline)

Although the UK is the seventh richest country in the world, it is also deeply unequal, and millions of families across the UK are living below the breadline.
Oxfam and Church Action on Poverty have calculated that 20,247,042 meals were given to people in food poverty in 2013/14 by the three main food aid providers. This is a 54 percent increase on 2012/13.
This joint paper by Oxfam GB, Church Action on Poverty and The Trussell Trust is a follow up to the 2013 research report Walking the Breadline. It shows that a combination of changes to the social security system, including a more punitive sanctions regime, a lack of decent work and rising living costs are contributing significantly to food poverty. More and more people are being forced to turn to food banks to put food on their table.
The paper makes recommendations for how the social security system could provide the safety net when people need it, supporting people into sustainable work and providing for those unable to work. It also calls for the UK minimum wage to be increased to a living wage by 2020.

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: Research (Research Prior To Meeting With Tesco)

Project Sunlight

The Food Waste report finds that the households in UK are chucking out 4.2 million tonnes of food and drink every year that could have been consumed.

By cutting down the amount of avoidable food waste going into landfill, an average family with children could save £700 a year.* That’s enough to feed a whole family for at least a month.

For almost 50 years, Flora has been helping generations of families plan meals and get creative in the kitchen. On toast, in packed lunches and when cooking, mums can trust Flora to be an everyday family favourite that helps food taste better. In recent years, Flora has teamed up with Love Food Hate Waste to help families get more mileage out of the food they buy, by providing a range of imaginative recipe ideas. Check out the tasty recipes, many of which can be made from store cupboard ingredients. Why not have a go at glazed baked stuffed red peppers or if you fancy a sweet treat, carrot cakes! Every morsel of these tasty treats can be enjoyed safe in the knowledge that Flora is full of sunflower goodness, made with a blend of natural seed oils that contain at least 70% less saturated fat than butter.

Here are just a few of the tips you can start doing today to decrease waste and increase savings. Learn to love your leftovers and turn last night’s dinner into a healthy lunch for the whole family. And keep an eye on use-by dates. If you don’t think you’ll eat something before its time is up, try freezing it to make it last longer.

At Flora, we also have a whole host of simple tasty recipes available on our website, and they now have an excellent search facility, which allows you to find recipes that are suitable for home freezing - helping you reduce waste and saving time and money.

Reduce waste and start saving. Download the Love Food Hate Waste app for more tips on making small changes to your shopping and eating habits.


Neighbourhood Food Collection



Farm to Fork



Unilever 



Clear a Plate



Flora



Fare Share














Wednesday 5 November 2014

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: The Green Exchange

Today I went to Leeds University to find out more information about The Green Exchange. I wrote some notes which are relevant to my essay topic and I was able to make some contacts which I could use in the future.




Saturday 1 November 2014

OUGD601 - Context of Practice 3: Unilever and Pepsico Emails

Unilever

Although I didn't end up needing Jessica for my context of practice work, it was great to be able to form this contact for future reference. I think I may even send her my designs when they are finished to get some feedback from her and ask her for future projects whether she would mind giving me feedback. 

Hi Laura,

Sorry it's been a bit busy this end.
Yes more than happy to answer any questions if I can?
I hope the RSA awards go well & I look forward to seeing your folio.

All the best,

Jessica

Sent from LinkedIn for iPhone
http://lnkd.in/ios

On 10/01/14 07:41pm, Laura Wallbridge-Bruce wrote:


--------------------


Hi Jessica,

Thanks so much for your reply! Ahh that was very lucky, I couldn't believe it when he said he knew someone who worked at Unilever, I was so pleased!

Thank you very much... I will send examples of my work to you as soon as possible. I would love to come in and shadow you! I saw you were 

It looks like I am going to be working on a brief shortly for the RSA Student Design Awards which is sponsored by Unilever, so I would be extremely grateful if you could answer any questions I may have (for primary research) if you wouldn't mind?

Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you soon and I will email you within the next week or so will my portfolio!

Kind regards,
Laura

On 09/30/14 3:29 AM, Jessica Peake wrote: 


--------------------


Hi Laura,

Yes Ryan forwarded on your details & luckily you came up top of the list!

Great to hear your enthusiasm for packaging design and in particular Unilever. 

Please could you send through a copy of your folio to jessica.peake@unilever.com (and any examples of packaging projects you have worked on) and I can see if I can forward this on to the appropriate people. It would be really interesting to see the type of work you have been involved with on your graphic design course.

All the best,

Jessica

On 09/30/14 3:11 AM, Laura Wallbridge-Bruce wrote: 


--------------------


Hi Jessica,

I'm so pleased my details were passed on to you and you found me on here. I'm currently in my third year at Leeds college of art studying graphic design with my main focus being packaging design. I've just finished a placement working for a global company who produce packaging for pet products which gave me an insight into that side of the industry.

This year I am hoping to gain as much experience through placements/visits and I am writing my dissertation on the food industry and how the packaging affects the consumer. One of my case studies is Unilever and I was over in Port Sunlight a couple of weekends ago at the museum, I found it extremely interesting and would absolutely love to one day work for such a highly recognised and successful brand. 

Do you think it would be at all possible for me to either visit or spend a couple of weeks shadowing you and your work at all? I would be so grateful!

I would be happy to send you some samples of my work.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Kind regards,
Laura Bruce



Pepsico

Hi Laura, 

Its nice to hear from you! Sorry about the delay in getting back to you I'm pretty rubbish at checking my linkedin at times. Things are all good with me, I'm home in 2 weeks fro a friends wedding so really looking forward to that. How is everything with you? Is Uni still going well? 

Of course I'll complete a questionnaire for you, just send me across anything you need me to do. Probably best to send it to my work email so then I wont miss it. alice.draper@pepsico.com. 

Your more than welcome at any time to come out and see us, its always nice to people come and visit. So if you do start to think of any plans just let us know as would be great to see you :) 

xx 

On 08/29/14 7:15 AM, Laura Wallbridge-Bruce wrote: 


-------------------- 


Hi Alice, how are you? Hope you're well! I'm just preparing research for my dissertation and have decided to look into the food industry in terms of marketing and packaging of products... I am still in the early stages of it all but wondered whether you'd be able to answer some questions for me when I put together a questionnaire in about a month or so?