Abbott Nutrition's innovative packaging for its Similac line of infant formulas shows the company empathizes with consumer's interests and needs, according to a leading industrial designer.

The Similac SimplePac powder container features a one-hand grip, a scoop holster on the underside of the lid and a wide opening for easier access to the product.

Such user-friendly qualities indicate that Abbott has "a lot of empathy for the end user, which is more than just price point and product on shelf," said Frank Tyneski, executive director of the Industrial Designers Society of America.

The Abbott Park, Ill.-based firm introduced the SimplePac design in September 2008, in conjunction with its launch of Similac Advance EarlyShield.

That formula, along with other Similac powders including Isomil Advance, Organic and Sensitive, is available in 23.2- and 34-ounce SimplePacs.

The Similac packaging "was redesigned with parent-friendly features," Thomas Freyman, executive VP of finance and chief financial officer for Abbott Labs, said during a presentation at the Cowen & Co. Health Care Conference in Boston March 17.

Tyneski said while the container offers convenience, the design process is the truly revolutionary innovation.

SimplePac was designed using "contextual inquiry," he explained, which projected the Similac container into the home environment and in the hands of a parent trying to corral a small child and simultaneously scoop formula.

Many package manufacturers "don't think about the complete or holistic experience of what happens when it leaves the store and goes into the home," Tyneski said.

"I think this is where the designers of the SimplePac did a lot of observational research."

Abbott says it collaborated with outside design firm Product Ventures and 1,600 real-life moms to develop the packaging.

Tyneski said a design end product, such as the SimplePac, is fairly predictable once one takes the time to consider a particular context.

Since Abbott took the initiative to make a package specifically for its user, "I think that makes them a market leader in the category," Tyneski said. He added that he expects more packaging designs to employ this method across the product spectrum.

Formula For Success

At the Cowen conference, Freyman said Abbott's nutritionals business "generates return on invested capital and very strong cash flow."

Freyman added Abbott expects its global nutritionals sales to continue double-digit growth as demand increases for both infant formula and adult nutrition products.

Global sales of Abbott nutritionals grew 11 percent in the company's fiscal 2008 fourth quarter to $1.28 billion, driven by the Similac Advanced EarlyShield launch and by the continued performance of Glucerna and Ensure (¹ 'The Tan Sheet' Jan. 26, 2009, In Brief).

To meet skyrocketing Asian demand for nutritionals, Abbott opened a $300 million manufacturing facility in Singapore in February, with plans for a nutrition science research and development center also in the works there (² 'The Tan Sheet' March 2, 2009, In Brief).

In U.S. infant formula sales for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 22, Similac Advance leads both the liquid concentrate and ready-to-drink categories, with $90.4 million and $43.6 million in sales, respectively, according to data from supermarkets, drugstores and mass merchandise outlets, excluding Wal-Mart, provided by Information Resources Inc.

In the $2.5 billion powder formula segment, Similac Advance holds a 22.9 percent share, trailing only Mead Johnson's Enfamil LIPIL with 23.3 percent. However, Enfamil's sales are down 10 percent from a year ago while Similac's are up 10.4 percent.

Similac Advance EarlyShield sold $23.8 million worth of product in the six months since launching, according to the IRI data.

- Dan Schiff (d.schiff@elsevier.com)

Abbott Nutrition Offers Complete Package For Similac Formula Users

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