Chapter 1 - Introduction

Baby food is a massive industry worldwide and is expected to reach values of up to $13.2 billion by 2015 this would mean a growth of 28% in the last five years. Parents are ever increasingly becoming aware of what their children are eating in terms of nutrition. There is massive emphasis on being healthy nowadays and parents believe that eating habits are developed at young ages, so they prefer to introduce their children to a wide range of flavours and textures early on.

The fast paced, busy lifestyle of young parents mean that convenience is key and products like the one present in fig 1 below are becoming ever more popular within the industry. This easy transportable packaging solution is very convenient; however all of the similar products on the market are made from materials that are not recyclable and not microwavable.

Food is introduced to babies in stages and in various textures depending on the age of the child.

Stage 1 – From 4 months old introduces the child to smooth purees of fruits or vegetables
Stage 2 – From 7 months old multiple foods involved in the recipes and still pureed but leaving some texture in the food
Stage 3 – From 10 months old full meal recipes that can be slightly chunky using soft vegetables and soft carbohydrate like rice, potato and pasta.

1.1 Definition

1.2 Objectives
To design a packaging solution for a portion size of 120g or double that size to 240g of stage three baby food