Our team has gone through 804 bottles of Soylent to date. With this fantastic “ready-to-drink meal” on the brain, a recent change in their bottle design caught our attention. This article takes a snapshot of Soylent’s design solution to a shipping challenge.
The challenge: Round bottles
Soylent is currently an online-only store. That means, especially for Canadians like us, the bottles endure a considerable journey before arriving at the customer’s doorstep. The curvy cylindrical bottles are packed into a straight-edged box.
The result? Dented and dinged bottles.
While many customers may not care or even notice a dent, it seems this was a challenge worth pursuing for Soylent.
The solution: “Sqround” bottles
The redesigned bottles are a cross between a square and round shape. The rounded edges sit on a square base, creating “sqround” bottles. They can withstand greater pressure when stacked, and the overall shipping volume is reduced by an estimated 15% per case.
The switch to new bottles came easily for Soylent. The new bottle promises more effective packing and shipment.
And, the original bottle wasn’t one the company was tied to. When Soylent first entered the drink market, time was of the essence. The company opted for bottles its manufacturer had in stock rather than exploring custom bottle designs. “It was the kind of thing we needed then,” John Zelek, Senior Creative at Soylent, tells FastCo. “We used it as a blank canvas to put our brand on.”
Now, only two years after launching bottled drinks, Soylent has made a pivot backed by bottle science.
The bottles were already a common sight around the office. As lovers of the product and admirers of an innovative touch, our team is fond of the switch to “sqround.” The new bottles are a great reminder of solving challenges with creative thinking.
