UK – Meat-free brand Quorn has expanded its range with two new frozen lines – Tomato & Mozzarella Escalopes and Mini Vegan Sausage Rolls all with NaviLens accessibility technology.
The two new products will be the first from Quorn to feature the specially developed NaviLens barcodes, helping blind and visually impaired shoppers when choosing meat-free options.
Gill Riley, Marketing Director at Quorn Foods UK said: “We’re really proud to be the first meat-free brand to add NaviLens technology to our packaging.
“As category leaders, we want to make our products as widely accessible as possible. NaviLens technology is a huge step in the journey towards making things like the weekly food shop a more inclusive and smoother experience for the visually impaired.”
The barcodes allow shoppers to easily access key product information and nutritional details up to 12 times farther away than standard QR codes.
These two products are the first of 42 Quorn SKUs that will carry NaviLens QR codes over the next 12 months.
The barcodes used for NaviLens technology allow information on the ingredients, preparation instructions, and recycling information to all be heard aloud through the shopper’s mobile device.
Meanwhile, Marc Powell, head of Accessibility Innovation at the Royal National Institute of Blind People, adds: “We’re delighted that Quorn is introducing NaviLens technology onto their product packaging.
“This is a positive step in making products accessible for blind and partially sighted people and ensuring they have the same access and choice as our sighted peers.
“Quorn is the first vegetarian food brand to introduce the technology, and this will bring further choice and independence to people with sight loss.”
In similar developments, Kellogg’s permanently adapted all of its cereal boxes for blind and partially sighted consumers after a successful trial on Coco Pops boxes with UK supermarket Co-op.
The inclusive cereal boxes are printed with coding technology enabling smartphones to detect and playback labeling and allergen information to users.
NaviLens was initially created to provide navigational assistance, meaning it can help shoppers find a product and provide packaging information.
Kellogg’s trial partner, UK charity Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), described the trial as “an overwhelming success,” with 97 percent of participants agreeing they would like to see more of these accessibility features available on grocery packaging.
After analyzing feedback, Kellogg’s and RNIB recognized the ability to access pack information digitally using NaviLens catered for the needs of everyone with sight loss, rather than just those with specific requirements, such as braille users.
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