Beavertown is a British brewery based in Tottenham and well known nationally for its craft beers such as Neck Oil, Gamma Ray, Lupuloid and Bones. In addition to beer, the brewery is partnering with the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) this month to introduce something different: cheddar and jalapeño-flavored potato chips aimed at starting conversations about mental health. A limited edition potato chip has been released.
For the unique campaign, the brewery has teamed up with artisan crisp brand SMUG to develop original flavours, and partners crisp manufacturer Yorkshire Crisp Company and compostable packaging specialist Parr. Managed the production process together with Kusaid. Each pack has mental health conversation starters printed inside the laminated material, designed to widen the conversation around mental health. The “Open Up” concept was developed by PR firm Here Be Dragons.
Designed by CALM, these icebreakers are meant to start deeper conversations between friends. For example, questions such as “What gets you through difficult times?” ‘If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?’ This comes from a survey carried out by CALM, which found that over half (56%) of Brits would avoid talking about their mental health by saying ‘It’s okay’. It turned out that he was pretending to be.
Adding further value to this concept, the packaging is a compostable solution sourced from Parkside Flexibles’ Park2Nature range. The high-performance laminate includes NatureFlex film, a high-barrier compostable cellulose film layer manufactured by Futamura. Not only does this packaging have the barrier performance needed to protect the rich flavor and satisfying crunch of crisps, but it is also compostable in home and industrial settings.
Completed packs with designs printed on the outside and inside are seedlings certified as compostable and OK compostable. It also complies with the EU standard EN13432 for the recovery of packaging materials through biodegradation and composting.
Mark Shaw, Sales Account Manager at Parkside, said: Beavertown Crisp offers a natural invitation to start sharing in a relaxed way at the pub. Sounds like a great idea if you ask me! ”
Andy Sweetman, Sales and Marketing Director at Futamura, agreed: “We are thrilled to be part of such a great initiative to support in such an innovative way using ethical packaging. I am happy to be able to cooperate in a small way.”
The new Open Up Crisp will be available in over 260 pubs across the UK, including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. Participating sites will also be giving away free packs of crisps on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
