With so many formats, just looking at the laundry products shelf is enough to make your head spin. Would the category benefit from a more uniform approach, asks Des King

There are any number of solutions for keeping the family kitted out in clean clothes. Powder, tablets, capsules, liquids, gels and concentrates all compete for attention on the supermarket shelf where size is no longer an indicator of substance. Refillable pouches are the latest option being trialled by Asda (see box).

Concentrates are a convenient format best suited to ‘dial down to 30°C' sustainability. However, there are fundamental differences of opinion - some of them force of habit, others a matter of perception - between consumers and manufacturers as to whether less constitutes more.

"Getting consumers to break out of existing habits can be really difficult, although seeing something similar in other categories does help to provide reassurance and get the message across," says Will Davis, chief executive of Studio Davis, the company behind the packaging design of Ariel Excel Gel. "If they're used to powder then that's what they'll stick with; same for liquid. Communicating the idea that you can use a smaller amount that will still deliver the same result is pretty much getting them to suspend disbelief.

"The reason that concentration has taken a while to come to the laundry care category is that big - as in terms of the pack size - has normally been perceived to be best, simply because of the shelf-pop it creates."

Small but perfectly formed
Nevertheless, concentration is what brands - and in their wake, own-label detergents - are increasingly focusing upon. Procter & Gamble led the rest of the pack, says Davis. Ariel Excel Gel was an NPD initiative that led to a new formulation that effectively redefined the category. "Getting smaller was basically going against the established trend - so what we aimed to ensure was that it had distinctive stand-out," he says.

Studio Davis opted for polypropylene (PP) rather than the usual high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to achieve more
control over the spring-back of the body of the pack, and to help consumers with accurate dispensing. The pebble-shaped pack also features a flip-top closure and an integrated ‘visi-strip' to indicate content level at a glance.

Other detergents have followed suit, and are taking the packaging further. While gels, such as Ariel Excel, operate on the squeeze principle, the latest development in the US is the Method brand's introduction of the spray pump - designed to deliver a measured single dose of concentrate.

Method uses 95% natural ingredients concentrated down so the consumer only has to use a quarter of the equivalent amount used by other concentrates. It also claims that its pack uses 36% less material, and is made of 50% recyclate.

With around a 33% share of the UK's annual £1.5bn detergent and fabric conditioner retail market, Tesco is strategically positioned to drive the trend towards liquid concentrates. "As customers become more interested in the environment and cutting their carbon footprint, we've seen increased demand for concentrated laundry products. They're also cheaper to buy so are proving popular," says senior laundry buying manager Amanda Hart.

Along with P&G, the category's leading supplier, the multiple is also phasing out tablets. "As they're powder compacted they require an extra layer of production," notes Hart. "When you consider the energy required to achieve that, concentrates are much better for the environment.

"In 2008, we introduced carbon labels on to our own-brand powdered laundry, tablets, liquid and concentrated liquid. This showed customers directly how much carbon was needed to produce each and illustrates that concentrated liquid is the more environmentally friendly option. We want to provide customer choice, so that they can make their own informed decisions."

The consensus view is there's unlikely to ever be a single format. For example, despite its somewhat outmoded image, powder still exercises a cross-demographic appeal not least to the more cost-conscious consumer. It's also the format habitually preferred by a number of overseas markets - for example, in Central Europe where tablets or liquid capsules are not commonly available.

Spoilt for choice
"As long as there is more than one brand fighting for share of the wallet there will be different formats, so there'll be choice in pursuit of competitive advantage," says Dragon Rouge creative partner Sam Dumont. "In our experience, consumers want the packaging to be simple, easy to use and no mess - and self-dosing can be a messy business."

As can the adoption of refillable containers, a well-worn step towards greater sustainability that some brands and retailers are currently revisiting. "We've already reduced packaging on thousands of products and we work closely with Wrap on many initiatives," says Hart. "We're keen to see the outcome of the trial they're doing on fabric softener (see box) - which when finished, we'll be in a better place to see how and if it could work for us."

Studio Davis' Davis believes legislation would probably be required to drive refilling, and that in any case it goes against current supermarket philosophy. "They don't even like filling their own shelves," says Davis.

"They insist upon brands creating more and more shelf- ready packaging, so I can't see them introducing a refill system. They're just logistics organisations when you get down to it. They want the convenience of having everything bottled and packed for them." Asda's trial should hopefully determine whether the same can be said of the consumer.

THE ULTIMATE IN CONVENIENCE
Suppose the entire rigmarole of optimising the use of detergent could simply be delegated? That's the solution being suggested by PDD Group FMCG principal Alex Peacop, who is exploring ways in which the design consultancy's Quantex pump could be adapted to fit within detergent bottles loaded directly into the washing machine itself.

"You would replace the existing drawer with three circular holes at the top left of the machine, into which you load a 200ml bottle of detergent, a 150ml bottle of fabric softener and a 100ml bottle of pre-wash. The machine rotates the pump installed within the closure of each bottle, so it knows exactly how much liquid it's delivering at the right temperature and at the right time in the cycle.

"The pump only requires a stepper motor in the machine: three turns, for example, would deliver a very accurate amount. The machine then knows that after, say, 200 turns the pack is empty. It can also recognise the pack from the bar code if you take it out and put it back in again."

Ironically, the stumbling-block to this eminently practical solution is a disinclination among consumers to relinquish control over what is perceived as a highly personal activity.

FILL IT UP AT ASDA
Refillable packaging has been largely viewed as environmentally ‘right-on' rather than ‘commercially right' in the front-line retail outlets. However, if trials currently being conducted by Asda with laundry detergents at five of its UK stores prove to be successful, topping up in the aisle could become as commonplace as using a self-service petrol station.

The trial is part of a Wrap initiative, and is being supported by own-label laundry products manufacturer McBride and in-store dispensing systems specialist Eziserv.

Instead of taking new bottles of fabric softener off the shelf, customers are being encouraged to buy from a vending machine that dispenses the liquid straight into a plastic refillable pouch. When used 10 times, compared to buying 10 1.5-litre bottles of fabric conditioner, taking the refillable route will save £3.70 and cut packaging consumption by up to 96%.

The liquid is pumped direct to the aisle from a 1,000-litre tank at the back of the store, and the system has had a positive response as well as generating a good upturn in sales, says Asda buying manager for packaging and the environment Shane Monkman.

"Customers like to think that they are helping the environment, and each time they use the machine they are shown on screen just how much packaging they have actually saved," says Monkman.

"Ultimately the success of the project relies on customers taking the empty pouch back and not simply getting a new one each time, so it was designed to have the optimum ease of use, being easy to fill, easy to handle, and easy to measure
and dispense.

"If the trial continues to gain momentum there will be plans to roll out to the wider store base. The laundry sector is an ideal product area to achieve this in, due to the physical properties of the product, and the shelf life it has, as well as a higher consumer acceptance of innovative packaging formats in this category."