Danone Research & Innovation came up with new highly convenient tube feeding packaging – the OpTri bottle – bringing together the best of two worlds: a bottle and a pouch.
“This was an interesting challenge”, Marlies Lutgendorf explains, Packaging Innovation Manager at Danone Research & Innovation: “The team started by building a detailed understanding of the needs and emotions of our end customers. Together we reviewed many mockups and functional prototypes to co-create the optimal user-friendly design. With innovative computer simulations the team managed to develop the OpTri bottle. The OpTri bottle represents the next generation tube feed packaging that is convenient to hold like a bottle, but also collapsible like a pouch.”
This next generation packaging for tube feeding was designed for better usability, better safety and a better planet. It is the result of many years of research and comes with many features that are not yet available on the tube nutrition market.
Improvements include:
- Usability: besides good grip and easy handling, the package has a big eye on the hanging hook
- Safety: the flip-top cap is not only easy to open but is also perceived by HCPs to be safer and more hygienic
- Planet: the manufacturing process uses 85% less water than the previous pouch production process, which is the equivalent of 55 Olympic size swimming pools per year. On top of that, the OpTri bottle is recyclable
Carel Ceton, Global Director R&D Medical Technology: “As we understand the impact tube feeding can have, we were keen to rethink the design of its packaging. When we started developing the new concept five years ago, we involved patients, their carers, parents, nurses and dieticians right from the start. Today we’re extremely proud that after extensive usability testing, we’ve been able to transform these ideas into a bottle that answers the needs of both home users and users in a hospital setting.”
The new concept will be launched in France, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium this week. Other European countries will follow quickly and eventually other countries in the world.