Multinational food manufacturer Kellogg's has made the new cereal boxes available in almost 60 Co-op supermarket stores across the UK
The NaviLens technology will be sold on Coco Pops boxes in Co-op stores in the UK (Credit: RNIB)
Kellogg’s has announced it’s trialling new cereal boxes that are designed to help blind people.
Launched in partnership with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), the boxes use a technology called NaviLens that allows smartphones to detect and playback labelling and allergen information to shoppers.
The multinational food manufacturing company has made the range available in almost 60 Co-op stores across the UK.
Kellogg’s Britain and Ireland managing director Chris Silcock said: “Over two million people in the UK live with sight loss and are unable to simply read the information on our cereal boxes.
“That’s why we partnered with RNIB to trial special boxes of Coco Pops with NaviLens technology – a first for food packaging.
“If the trial is a success, we would hope that it could appear on more of our cereal boxes for visually impaired shoppers to access.”
New technology on Kellogg’s boxes allows smartphones to read on-pack information
The trial comes after RNIB research revealed that nine in ten blind and partially sighted people feel information on food packaging is difficult or impossible to read.
If the NaviLens technology is successful, Kellogg’s hopes to adapt more of its cereal boxes to include this technology.
RNIB’s strategic accessibility lead Marc Powell said: “This trial with Kellogg’s has raised the bar in inclusive and accessible packaging design – allowing people with low or no vision to locate a product on the shelf and access all information about it completely independently for the very first time.”
The technology – which can be used both in-store and in the home – allows smartphones to pick up an on-pack code from up to three metres distance when a blind or partially sighted shopper points their device in the direction of the cereal box.
This then alerts the phone and the shopper can choose to have the ingredients, allergen and recycling information read aloud to them – as well as reading it on their device using accessibility tools.
Powell explained: “Important information on packaging can often be in very small print, making it difficult for blind and partially sighted people to read.
“This can make shopping a real challenge, especially for those with specific dietary requirements – as they can’t see the all-important nutritional information.”
The limited-edition World Sight Day Coco Pops cereal boxes are also embossed with braille and the on-pack information is in a larger font size.