Heinz meanz plastic jars for Beanz

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Now I have seen it all! Or have I? Is everyone gone mad?

Heinz is to sell its famous baked beans in a resealable plastic bottle so that open containers can be kept in the fridge. Marvellous – NOT!

This is as stupid, I am afraid to say, as when Sainsbury's went and put chopped tomatoes into Tetrapak kind of packs which cannot be recycled.

What is wrong with emptying a tin can into a storage container, maybe a repurposed glass jar? Nothing and it is, in fact, environmentally friendly. This, on the other hand, is madness.

The new Heinz Beanz packaging is a plastic jar with a screw top, dubbed the Fridge Pack, which will go on sale in September with a RRP of £1.79. So, I guess, the consumer is going to pay a very high premium for a plastic jar that he or she can put into the fridge if not all the baked beans have been used.

The £3m through-the-line campaign, including TV advertising, is being paid for, obviously, by the recommended retail price of £1.79 for the 1kg jar. I guess I shall be sticking with Sainsbury's Basics Baked Beans in a tin can. Thanks.

And with each 1kg Fridge Pack being the equivalent of two-and-a-half cans and lasting only for five days after being opened, it is likely to be purchased mainly by families or die-hard bean lovers.

Time to tell Heinz what we think, I guess.

© 2010