European consumers find glass has “nothing to hide” say “Friends of Glass”
A European federation of glass manufacturers and allied glass industry participants has launched a new Facebook campaign. The federation called the Friends of Glass and its latest “Little Taste Testers” campaign is using Facebook to survey and promote the benefits of glass.
Friends of Glass say that 74 per cent of European consumers surveyed already prefer glass packaging for its protection of natural resources and ability to preserve products. Friends of Glass say their claims are based on a European survey of 9,000 consumers in 17 European countries about perceptions of packaging materials.
Australian consumers also like glass packaging according to a previous Australian report by a market research company Ipsos in 2011. Australian Food News reported in September 2011 that of those Australians surveyed by Ipsos, 88 per cent said they believed glass packaging best demonstrated high quality food products. Similarly, 76 per cent of participants said they believed glass packaging best demonstrated high quality beverage products compared with other packaging types.
The latest Friends of Glass “Little Taste Testers” campaign on Facebook aims to promote health through the product ingredients, but to reiterate the message that glass packaging “plays an integral role.”
Friends of Glass claim that the energy savings of recycling a single glass bottle are equivalent to operating a computer for twenty-five minutes, or for a washing machine to operate for ten minutes. Similarly, they are promoting a claim that the recycling process from collection of the glass bottle to the return to the supermarket shelf can “take just 70 days.”
The “Little Taste Testers” campaign follows news this week of production of the last Coca-Cola refillable glass bottle. An American Coke-bottler based in Minnesota ceased refillable bottle production this week. The refillable Coke bottle had been in production since 1932.
Friends of Glass is part of the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE) and is an international non-profit association. They say that they currently have 59 glass manufacturing, packaging and tableware members, who operate in 23 countries across Europe promoting glass manufacturing and recycling.
