Business

Four Irish artists have helped change the face of Heinz baked beans

FOUR Irish artists have been brought on board to help Heinz mark the nationwide launch of its new environmentally friendly beans packaging.

The firm is now using a new paperboard Eco-Friendly Sleeve Multipack to package its ever-popular baked beans, which will remove 30 tonnes of plastic from Ireland’s supermarket shelves every year.

Marking the green move, they have joined up with four artists from each of the Irish provinces who have each created limited edition designs for the packaging.

The artists - Fatti Burke; Linda Fahrlin; Jacky Sheridan, and Fuchsia Macaree - represent Munster, Connacht, Ulster and Leinster respectively.

And their limited edition designs feature magical beanstalks, cute smiling beans, a homage to the country’s much-loved ‘Cowboy Supper’, and beautiful illustrations of Ireland’s landscape.

The new eco-friendly packaging features the Irish artists' desgins

They celebrate Heinz’s move to “replace the traditional plastic shrink wrap packaging with the new Eco-Friendly Sleeve Multipack across all its Beanz, Soups and Pasta multipacks in Tesco” the brand confirmed.
According to a 2020 report by the Environmental Protection Agency, Ireland’s recycling rates are declining.

The report showed the country only recycled a third of plastic packaging in 2018 - a decrease for the third year in a row, so the launch couldn’t come at a better time.

Each of the four Irish designs reveal further stats about baked bean consumption in their respective province – including the fact that over 50,000 people from Leinster have put baked beans in a smoothie.

Elaine McCague, Senior Commercial & Marketing Manager at Heinz Ireland, said: “Our new Eco-Friendly Sleeve uses no glue, the paperboard is fully recyclable and comes from sustainably managed forests.

“Best of all, rolling it out will result in the removal of 30 tonnes of plastic from Ireland’s supermarket shelves every year.”

She added: “It comes as part of Heinz’s global pledge to aim to make 100% of our packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.”

Regarding the firm’s artistic partners, Ms McCague explained: “The artists were given free reign and creative freedom to bring the iconic Heinz Beanz colours and iconography to life in a way that remained true to them, and the results are absolutely outstanding.

“It confirms what we already know; there is a huge wealth of talent in Ireland, and we’re so proud to be showcasing that on our new Eco-Friendly Sleeve.

All of the proceeds from each €4 multipack will go towards Heinz Ireland’s official charity partner, Barnardos Ireland.

The multipacks are on sale here.