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A Picture of Success
13/11/2007
A Leicester food company has drawn expertise from two of the area’s top universities to create an innovative and eye-catching point of sales unit for their new product range.
Spice ‘n’ Tice make curry spice kits and recipes for traditional Indian cooking at home and wanted to create a shelf display to help their new product whet buyers’ appetites.
So they took the food and drink industry expertise at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and matched it with the unique 3-D lenticular design technology at De Montfort University (DMU) Faculty of Art and Design and came up with a lenticular point of sale unit.
The new display includes a form of 3-Dimensional photograph that switches between a 2-Dimensional image of the product and a 3-Dimensional image of the cooked dish. The design overhangs the display shelf, making best use of the limited space available in smaller stores.
The successful partnership between universities and industry came about through the East Midlands New Technology Initiative (NTI) Centre for Knowledge Exchange– a collaboration between De Montfort University and University of Derby (Creative Industries) and Nottingham Trent University and Lincoln University (Food & Drink).
As Mike Dixon, head of the East Midlands NTI Food and Drink Centre for Knowledge Exchange, based at NTU, explained, the collaborative project has mushroomed: “Packaging is a vital part of selling food produce. We knew that our member universities house some of the brightest and most creative minds, and that bringing together Food and Drink and Art and Design departments would be highly productive.
“DMU’s Faculty of Art and Design is the only one in the country to offer training in Lenticular Imagery - a printed image that can show 3-D depth or animation as your viewing angle changes. They had seconded James Malbon from DMU as an associate to a Knowledge Transfer Partnership scheme with packaging design and print specialists Easibind International of Heanor in Derbyshire, and brought on board Leicester advertising photographer Toby Savage, who also works with students. The result is a product display with a difference.
“If it had not been for this relationship, Spice N Tice would have had a flat image battling against tough competition on the delicatessen shelves. We think this is the first time 3-D lenticular imagery has been used in this way in the region.”
Iona Cruikshank, Head of Imaging & Communication Design at DMU said: “The NTI Food and Drink Centre for Knowledge Exchange is creating live projects for Art and Design students to work on. From here we can progress to animation advertising and graphic and website design. Local firms are getting amazing ideas and creativity, while the students get valuable industry experiences.”
Both NTI Centres for Knowledge Exchange work at a high level with local companies, and bring together the needs of industry and the expertise held within education institutions for the direct benefit of both parties.
Spice ‘n’ Tice launched their new range at the Deli Flavour shop in Stoneygate, Leicester, who had advised the team about the display positioning and requirements from a retailers perspective. The packets for Chicken Tikka, Bombay Potatoes, Tandoori Salmon and Lamb Madras include individual sachets of spices, ingredient shopping list and full cooking instructions.
Spice ‘n’ Tice owner, Ketan Varu said: “We feel very privileged and excited about getting this opportunity. The Universities have fantastic innovation and creativity and we had the opportunity to apply that into our business.
“The Spice N Tice boxes are selling really well and we are now supplying local and national delis, independent retails stores and exporting. The display units were a hook to attract people to our products and getting them to try them.”
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