Why can’t CD packaging be greener and cheaper? That’s the question that Emthelo, a supply chain consultancy specialising in the entertainment industry asked itself last year. The result of their deliberations is the MINTpack, a new, green, economical CD sleeve, as Emthelo Managing Director Olivier Durand explains to Emma Beddington.
What made you decide to take on this packaging project?
Environmentally friendly CD packaging has existed for a few years already (notably Digipack), but it always priced itself out of the market: it just wasn’t economically viable for the majority of products. Intuitively, you would think that cardboard packaging should be cheaper than plastic to produce, but that simply wasn’t the case: the production and design weren’t set up for economical mass production.
That seemed crazy to us: there had to be an economic, green alternative to the ugly, old-fashioned plastic jewel box that has dominated CD sales for the last 30 years. Moreover, we kept hearing from our contacts at major record labels that artists were asking more and more frequently for a greener alternative to plastic packaging for their records, and they had nothing, realistically, to offer them.
So what did you do?
We worked with a whole team of people – printers, major labels, marketing consultants – to devise a solution: a carton based, autopack sleeve. For the customer, the product looks and feels like a Digipack, but for the producer, we have eliminated the problems and costs associated with using a plastic tray. And using autopack has allowed us to price cheaper than a conventional Jewel Box, including assembly of a booklet and the disc.
There are other card-based CD sleeves out there – what makes MINTpack special?
For consumers, MINTpack won’t look very different from other card CD sleeves – the crucial difference is on the production side. We’ve studied and refined the design and the production process to create a sleeve that is high quality with a luxurious feel like other carton sleeves, but far more efficient to produce and pack, which means huge savings for the labels and artists who choose to use it.
But is it really environmentally friendly?
Yes. MINTpack is produced from FSC card, and because it’s 40% lighter and less bulky, the environmental load of transporting the product is also reduced.
What’s the attraction for the labels?
Well, for a start, MINTpack works out cheaper than the Jewel Box once you factor in transport costs. But even more importantly, it helps with the key issue of limited retailer floor space for stock: MINTpack is much thinner than a Jewel Box so you can double the number of units per square metre, but it has a deluxe look and feel that makes it attractive to display, and to handle.
Who’s using it?
All four majors have approved MINTpack for use, and there are already MINTpack products on the shelf from big name artists such as Stevie Wonder and The Cure.
What does the future hold for MINTpack?
Environmental concerns are ever more important for labels and artists, and we believe that good looking products that respect the environment without damaging the bottom line are the future of ‘physical’ music. Our objective is to continue developing a portfolio of suppliers and products to meet that demand.
Emma Beddington is a Brussels-based freelance lifestyle journalist and blogger. She has written for Elle, Red, the Guardian, Metropolitan, the Observer, the Sunday Times and O Magazine.
www.emthelo.com
www.mintpack.co
