The company will convert all of its cereal packaging from 2022; the first barrier-free Special K boxes will hit the shelves in January. The idea came up when Kellogg’s met with children from St. Vincent’s in 2019, a special school in Liverpool for children with sensory disabilities. It was the students’ insights that inspired the company to look for solutions. Kellogg’s hopes that by sharing experiences with other brands, there will be an opportunity to make supermarket shelves more accessible to people with visual impairments so that they can shop more independently and get information on different types of packaging. This announcement follows a successful trial in the UK carried out last year in partnership with Co-op on Kellogg’s Coco Pops packaging.
Evaluation of the pilot by the charity Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) found that 97% of participants agreed that they would like to see more of these accessibility features on food packaging in the future. Unlike other types of printed codes, the new technology, called NaviLens, contains high-contrast colored squares on a black background. Users don’t need to know exactly where the code is in order to scan it.
Smartphones can recognize the code on the packaging from a distance of up to three meters if a blind or visually impaired buyer points their device towards the cereal box. The smartphone is then activated and the buyer can have the information about ingredients, allergens and recycling read out to them – or read it using tools on their device. The technology is currently used in the transport systems of the cities of Barcelona, Madrid and Murcia, making it easier for thousands of visually impaired citizens to navigate the cities. Chris Silcock, Head of Kellogg’s UK, said: “More than two million people in the UK are visually impaired and cannot easily read the information on our cereal boxes. As a company focused on equality, diversity and inclusion, we believe that everyone should be able to get important and useful information about the food we sell.
“That’s why we will equip all of our cereal boxes with a new technology from next year. I am proud that Kellogg’s will be the first company in the world to use NaviLens on packaging. We know how important it is that everyone Packaging is accessible for the blind to make shopping easier, and we will share our experience with other brands who want to learn more. “
Javier Pita, CEO of NaviLens, the start-up that developed the technology, commented, “The inclusion of NaviLens codes on food packaging is a positive step towards a more inclusive and accessible shopping experience for the visually impaired shop more independently and make their own food choices. “
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