Health and wellness retailer Holland & Barrett will be working with students at the Royal College of Art (RCA) to explore ideas around more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable packaging solutions.
The tie-up is part of RCA’s Design for Betterment project, the theme for the institution’s 2025/26 edition of its annual Grand Challenge.
RCA says its Grand Challenge is the biggest single-institution postgraduate design project in the world and – every year – School of Design students form interdisciplinary teams to devise collaborative, innovative solutions to global challenges. Industry partners come into support each year.
Jessica Long, sustainability & impact director at Holland & Barrett, said the Design for Betterment partnership was “grounded in our shared responsibility for the wellbeing of people and the planet”.
“Together, we’re looking honestly at the systems shaping health, equity, and the environment, and exploring specifically how design can help improve our impact,” she added.
Olly Florek, packaging innovation lead at Holland & Barrett, commented: “Understanding the impact our packaging has on both customers and the planet is paramount.
“Packaging goes beyond protection and compliance. We’re curious to see how the students respond to this challenge and explore new ways to improve accessibility, reduce impact and build trust.”
Working with the RCA will give Holland & Barrett a chance to tap into the thinking of a new generation of innovators. The UK’s largest retailer, Tesco, is also partnering with the institution this year.
The partners will support the project by developing creative briefs for the student teams as well as participating on the jury to select the winners.
This year’s programme also features talks from the Sustainable Markets Initiative, RSA, Design Council, UKRI, Grantham Institute for Climate Change, Imperial School of Sustainability, and Design for Good.
Some 125 student teams will select Sustainability or Equity as their sub-theme to focus on, and identify a key challenge to address.
Once the student groups submit their designs, ten projects per sub-theme will be shortlisted. In March, the jury will choose six winners (three per sub-theme), with the aim of highlighting the success that comes with a community-centred approach to design.
Read more about Holland & Barrett on Green Retail World
[image credit: Green Retail World]
