ECA

This project seeks to provide food for thought concerning the place of packaging and food conditioning in contemporary French society. Filling a need for long-term studies on the history of social behaviour, techniques and industry, its ambition is to build up a scientific store of knowledge, based on a number of lengthy thematic studies making extensive use of an abundance of source material and of the testimony of industrial players. It will bring historical analysis to bear on social issues concerning topics ranging from consumer demands to pending arbitrations in governmental environmental policies. The project fits in with the general European research effort, particularly as part of the ESF, which has launched a program called 'European Ways of Life' in the American Century: Mediating Consumption and Technology in the Twentieth Century. Early on in contemporary times, the packaging and conditioning of food products raised a crucial issue involving producers, distributors and consumers: how best to provide food whose quality, edibility, identification and appeal would be preserved from the point of origin to the end user's table. Since the mid-19th Century, increased food-production areas, longer transportation distances, the ever-growing number of freight flows and a quantum leap in urban markets have created a dynamic environment for innovations. Packaging manufacturers answer the call both by resorting to long-used materials and by employing others which are so novel that they generate radical changes. Likewise, the improvement in means of transportation has become an essential tool in broadening exchange zones while ensuring efficient conditioning. We might locate these upheavals upstream or midstream of the food chain, but there are others, located at the opposite end, which correspond to consumer expectations. Presentation criteria tend to determine consumer reactions. While the buyer's motivation is influenced by aesthetic considerations, any information provided him takes on equal importance. Written messages were long relegated to the task of identifying a manufacturer or brand name, but they are now seen as the last line of communication between the producer and the consumer. Whether it be when it is providing valuable information on the origin and certification of a product or specifying nutritional data in compliance with regulatory requirements, today's packaging has taken on a greater role than that of a mere container. Its design incorporates both practical identification information and a number of supplementary data which will allow the consumer to define his choices. The industrial side of packaging has had to deal with two major issues: on the one hand, conditioning technology requires practical designs and a permanent adaptation to new needs, such as changes in commercial distribution modes or the individualisation of food portions. On the other hand, while rising costs in materials have determined technical changes in packaging, the factor which will drive new evolutions will be the need to recycle these materials in light of new environmental constraints. We are considering three lines of study: first, the history of certain packaging materials will be looked into, not as regards their production, which has already been researched in a number of academic works, but in their competition and the manner in which they determine consumer choices. Thus, long-term innovation strategies and will be revealed. The development of the kinds of packaging and the evolution in conditionings imply a need to study the technical aspect of transportation means and conservation means. Finally, the communication side will allow us to define how consumer gain access to the essential information they need regarding nutritional practices and food security.