Featured image for KANKAN's New Refill System Rethinks The Aluminum Can For The Personal Care Space

KANKAN's New Refill System Rethinks The Aluminum Can For The Personal Care Space

by Chloe Gordon on 04/21/2023 | 4 Minute Read

Morrama's pump design for KANKAN reimagines the use of aluminum cans for use in the personal care space. The more sustainable refill option transforms the can into a more aesthetically pleasing object better suited for consumers' living spaces. And while the refill design is clever, the packaging furthers the strategy. Through stunning typography and warm colors, the aesthetics of the packaging system are spot on.


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KANKAN can do. Back in 2019, Kankan pioneered using cans as refills for personal care packaging and transformed the way people saw the future of sustainable bathrooms. Now, in its 2.0 iteration, whilst still focused on helping us reduce our consumption of single-use plastics, Kankan is back and focused on much more than just refill and reuse. The new and improved Kankan is coming with a new holistic approach to circularity and a waste-free future.

To challenge the idea that sustainable choices need to come with some form of compromise or ask something more of the consumer. And, the ‘can’ is still at the centre of everything they do. But they’re more than that — Kankan believes in simple, beautiful solutions. Using design to make sustainability sexy because desirability is key to behaviour change. Kankan has taken the humble can and transformed this to a desirable object for the home via a bespoke pump designed by design partners, Morrama. The brief was to find a solution to bring the can into the hands of many, and without compromising the experience of the user.

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What has become of this is that the packaging functions not only as good as, but better than what has come before and looks as good as the products feel — ultimately so it's a joy to use... Guided by consumer feedback, Kankan now have a solution that elevates the experience and useability whilst maintaining the ambitions of the brand in 2023 and beyond. Circularity is Kankan’s north star. With this comes new innovations and new products using circular ingredients with scents that support the spirit. Partnering with Somerset manufacturers, leaders in natural perfume and sustainability, Kankan will be launching with four new scents this February — Kankan wanted to develop a range of fragrances that are complex and modern in their own right, whilst still being made from 100% essential oils — scents with real daily benefits that support our spirit, our skin, and our well-being.

In profiling the lifecycle of a plant via each scent, each fragrance plays a key part of the larger story. The scents each take the user on a very individual journey that supports the spirit and well-being uniquely. Grounded, the most earthy of the four helps one feel, well, grounded, whilst Bloom has been known to bring ‘the love’. Whilst there has been so much care in bringing these scents to life, as is in the packaging, it’s not where Kankan’s commitment to circularity stops. They’ve considered ingredients, the packaging, and the way of use. Everything. Kankan was keen to find holistic solutions to close the loop in their ingredient choices too. Utilising sourced hydrolats (bi-products from the essential oil industry), alongside fruit and flower waters — bi-products harvested directly from their farm.

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One of the key ingredients (Genencare) in the bases is a bi-product from the sugar industry. As new products launch, Kankan plans to continue to increase the use of richly beneficial waste materials into their products. Kankan is here to prove you can have it all. Good design, great products, and a solution to that big problem that really works. Simply put, we can. Cans today, circular always...

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