OUGD503 - SB02 - StarPack - Research

OUGD503 

SB02 

StarPack - Research

Target Market
Middle aged, middle class women. Shop in higher end retailers such as John Lewis and Marks and Spencer

Existing packaging
Visual Research of existing products in this fields

Client
Sponsored by Metal Packaging Manufacturing Assosiation
MPMA is the lead voice of the UK metal packaging industry. The Association supports and represents members' on industry matters related to operational, regulatory and environmental issues. The assosiation belives that no metal packaging should go to landfill. They want the industry to use resources more efficiently, avoiding spoilage and improving the recovery of materials.
They strive for 60 percent of all metal packaging to be recycled.

The produced product has to be suitable for other uses once its function of holding tea is over. 

Materials
The material used is tinplate. Tinplate is made from sheets of steel, coated with a thin layer of tin. 

History of tea.

Legend suggests that tea dates back to 2737 BC in China where it was created by accident by a servant of Chinese emperor Shen Nung. It was under the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD) That tea became a firmly established as the national drink if China.

The Dutch first brought tea over to Europe as they began to follow some of the Portuguese trading routes. Tea first came to Britain in the 1600’s as sailors for the British East India Company would have brought it home as gifts. Tea didn’t begin to gain popularity until Charles second married Catherine of Braganza, who would drink tea in court. The East India Company capitalised on this in 1664, ordering 11lbs of China tea to be shipped from Java.

A tax was introduced to tea in 1689 which got so high it almost stopped the sale of tea in Britain. It also meant that tea was only accessible by the wealthy. Another consequence of the tax was smuggling. This small illegal trade grew into organised criminal networks.

In 1784, the new Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger realised the effect of the tax and slashed it from 119 percent to 12.5 percent, stopping the smuggling trade instantly.

After 1834 and the government take-over of the East India Company the tea trade became a free for all. Captains and crews would race to bring back tea to Britain and make the most profit. The trade route would take merchants from Canton River, down the China Sea, across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, up the Atlantic and into the English Channel.

The London Tea Auction

The London Tea Auction lasted 300 years. It was a regular event which made London the centre of the international tea trade. The first auctions were held by the East India Company at the company’s headquarters on Leadenhall Street also known as East India House

The East India Company

The company was formed in 1600. At its peak, it had a monopoly on British trade with India and the far East. It grew to become very powerful with Charles the second granting the company to take military action to establish itself in places it wished to trade.

The brief calls for a factitious brand to be made, from the research I have found that the following names are appropriate:

Possible names

Shen Nungs Secret Brew

Smugglers brew

Princesses’ brew  

Younger’s Tea

Younger’s

China Sea’s Finest

Leadenhall Street Tea

East India House Brew

How is Tea Made?

Tea leaves are plucked. They are them processed at a factory. Tea is graded into black, green, white and Oolong, Leaves are then classified by size, type and appearance. Black, green and white teas are all very similar. It’s the production method that transforms them.