Opening vacuum-sealed jars becomes easy for everyone with EEASY Lid

Consumer Convenience Technologies’ (CCT) goal is to provide innovative packaging solutions to the food and beverage sectors. CCT’s innovation, EEASY Lid, is a cool product that everyone, disabled and non-disabled, can use easily. CCT president Brandon Bach discusses what led him to pursue inclusive packaging as a mission.

NewzHook: What led you to start looking at inclusive packaging in the first place?

Brandon Bach: The development of the EEASY Lid was inspired by a friend of CCT who was being treated for cancer. She struggled to complete everyday tasks, including opening packing like vacuum-sealed jars. CCT took on the challenge of inventing a jar lid that was easy for anyone to open. The team spent the next eight years developing the EEASY Lid, ensuring its packaging was accessible to everyone – no matter age, gender, or physical capability.

EEASY Lid hit store shelves at Pennsylvania-based Boyer’s Food Markets in January 2020, making Boyer’s the first grocer in the United States to use the EEASY Lid. In May, CCT announced the results of the first use of the EEASY Lid over a three-month test period and results showed that the use of the lid boosted Boyer’s private-label pasta sauce sales by over 300%. We have announced three [partnerships that aim to expand EEASY Lid’s domestic and international reach. CCT is now producing an aluminum lug version of the lid.

NH: What makes EEASY Lid a gamechanger for disabled and non-disabled people?

BB:It works by simply pressing a button on the lid. After use, the lid is reclosed by pressing the button from the inside of the lid to help maintain product freshness and prevent spills. Research has found the EEASY Lid reduces the amount of torque needed to twist off a jar lid by more than 40% compared to standard CT lids and 58% for traditional lug lids.

Throughout our eight-year journey to bring the EEASY Lid to fruition, we faced many challenges. We had to obtain the right equipment to produce the lid, retrofit the machinery to produce the EEASY Lid, and find the best materials to produce the lid with. With our co-founders having worked in the food and beverage industry for years, they knew the challenge of opening jars existed. And when our friend who suffered from cancer treatment approached us about her struggle to open jars, it set us on the path to creating the EEASY Lid.

NH: Was there any particular disability you were targeting when you developed EEASY Lid?

There wasn’t one particular disability that we set out to help more with the invention of the EEASY Lid. Rather, our goal was to create a more inclusive jar lid that was easier for everyone to use. The EEASY Lid has proven to help people of all abilities, including those with grip strength deficiencies, carpal tunnel, arthritis, the elderly, and much more. – Brandon Bach, President, Consumer Convenience Technologies

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NH: How do you believe EEASY Lid is changing lives?

BB:One of the major benefits is for consumers with disabilities who live on their own. While a traditional jar lid might have proven difficult to open or might have caused them to try dangerous opening hacks, the EEASY Lid’s track record of reducing the amount of torque needed to twist off a jar lid makes opening jars accessible to everyone despite age, gender, disability or physical ailment.

NH: Do you believe brands are waking up to the advantages of inclusive packaging? Kellogg’s recently announced accessible cereal boxes.

BB:Yes, more and more companies are starting to realize the importance of inclusive packaging design. According to the Centres for Disease Control (CDC), one in four people in the U.S. alone are living with some sort of disability. Additionally, in 2018, 52 million people age 65 and over lived in the US accounting for 16% of the total population. That number is projected to increase to 73 million, representing 21% of the total US population by 2030.

Approximately 85% of adults 65 and older want to stay in their own homes and communities as they age. However, problems with mobility and dexterity can be a barrier to living independently at home. Companies that can successfully create their products with inclusivity in mind are able to tap into more potential market share.