Only 20 companies responded to accessibility challenge

These days, Strauss, in collaboration with the "worth developing" project and the "Migdal Or" center - Destinations Association for the North, is launching an innovative package for the salty snacks potato chips, Doritos and Cheetos, which have been developed in such a way that they will also be suitable for people with visual impairments - this is as part of a A social movement to promote a more inclusive space and grant choices to a variety of populations and audiences.

"Today we work with 20 companies, Strauss among them, and call on more companies to join us. The existing potential for collaborations is very great," says Shani Shavit, the director of the development processes in the companies in the "worth developing" venture, which is a joint venture of the National Insurance - Funds Division, the Zionot 2000 Association and the Israel Beyond Disability Joint, whose purpose is to assist business companies in everything related to product development and adapted services for people with disabilities and creating a more equal consumer space.

According to Shavit, the fact that so far only 20 companies have responded to the challenge is related to awareness of the issue. "We conducted a study in collaboration with the BDO company that examined the purchasing power of people with disabilities in Israel in order to draw conclusions about their buying habits in relation to the rest of the population," she says.

"According to the findings of the study, which referred to the data of 2022, when there were approximately 400,000 households in Israel with at least one person with a disability, it was found that the purchasing power of people with disabilities is similar to the purchasing power of other households. That means the buying potential is definitely there. What is actually missing is the awareness of the business companies, and this leads to the fact that we also deal a lot with how to promote the consumer voice of people with disabilities. We understand that companies don't know what their challenges are, so if people with disabilities don't explain their need, then the picture won't be complete."

"This is also the reason why," adds Shavit, "that in all our projects people with disabilities are involved. We established a forum where there are representatives of 16 associations representing people with disabilities with the aim of hearing through them the people themselves, then we can create focus groups, ideas and connections into the business sector to produce solutions. Sometimes companies contact us, sometimes we recruit companies. We call on companies to understand the different needs or at least start paying attention to this target audience. According to the law, companies are required to make certain adjustments in the accessibility of their service or in adjusting the physical space - and they do it. But we look at what goes beyond that from a concept called comprehensive design."

What is the basis of the concept?

"The intention is to create products that appeal to the entire market, but ones that are uniquely and creatively adapted to the unique needs of certain groups - which ultimately creates an adaptation for a much wider audience. The goal is to improve the accessibility that already exists due to the necessity of the regulation, because the law is always very basic and never satisfies all the requirements. We look at all the different consumer industries, such as food, fashion, aviation and more, to encourage the participation and independence of people with different disabilities - cognitive, physical, mental and sensory disabilities."

How do you help business companies in this aspect?

"Each company that joins us carries a banner of innovation and creativity. We accompany companies throughout this process because it is not trivial. Companies do not recognize this population group of people with disabilities, even though they are 18% of the general population and constitute a very significant purchasing power, even for example more than the vegans who get a lot of attention. But people with disabilities are quite transparent in terms of the business companies, or the business challenge. And we do see that there is an important socio-economic potential here." 

Hundreds of millions in social projects

According to Shavit, the situation in Israel as far as inclusive consumerism is concerned is not much different from what is seen around the world. "In this field we are constantly trying to learn from the world, and we don't find many examples there either," she says. "There are companies that do campaigns related to people with disabilities, but there are fewer examples of inclusive consumerism or adaptations intended for people with disabilities. Although campaigns to raise awareness are important, if these things are not backed up in the end by changing the actual consumer situation, then we will not see enough of the change happening."

"As National Insurance, it was clear to us that it is right and necessary to invest in the development of innovative solutions for people with disabilities and the creation of a connection to an equal, accessible and inclusive space for the entire population. We are all equal and the more we invest in this belief and create more egalitarian platforms, the better and thus we will create a reformed society - as it should be," adds Moran Mizrahi, director of the National Insurance Funds Division, which is part of the "worth developing" project. She points out that the National Insurance invests hundreds of millions of shekels a year in social projects in the community, "so that we can promote social action and not only through allowances, but also strengthening the third sector and the benefits provided to different and diverse populations in Israeli society."

As mentioned, the "worth developing" project currently accompanies 20 companies in various industries, and according to Shavit, "Each company progresses at its own pace." There are products that have already been released and those that are still in development. For example, about a year ago, Unilever came out with accessible packaging for Thelma's Champions cornflakes that also relate to physical adaptation - easier opening of the packaging, and they were also adapted for people with visual impairments; With Israir, we recently released a kind of digital kit designed for families with children on the autistic spectrum, which allows the children to prepare for the flight, reduce anxiety; The Polgat chain launched a tailored collection for men about a year ago in which adjustments were made for an easier wearing action; And Strauss' salt division made an adjustment about three years ago to make the packaging easier to physically open, and now adds another adjustment for the benefit of people with visual impairments."

The new customized packaging that Strauss is launching these days is based on the principle of permanence which allows for easier orientation - permanent location of the information on the various packages such as ingredients, nutritional table and allergens box, and also printing the product's validity in a fixed and significantly enlarged location. Also, from now on there will also be a QR code on the front of the packaging that, by scanning, takes the consumer to an accessible landing page where they can receive voice information about everything written on the product packaging.

"We worked on the development process for about a year and a half to two years," says Lirona Spivak, director of marketing, innovation and sustainability in Strauss' salt division. "It started when we were exposed to some kind of video from abroad, a kind of social experiment that invited people to enter a specially created supermarket, where all the products in it were without a picture and without captions. Ask the people to buy the products they want. Of course they couldn't, because they didn't understand how it could be done, and then the token fell to us that operating in the supermarket is a basic operation that for a person with a visual impairment becomes difficult.

"We sell snacks, it's something gratifying, and we constantly strive for it to be accessible, for it not to be a purchase that is accompanied by frustration. We connected with a project worth development and Migdal Or, who know the target audience in order to give the best solution." At first, adds Spivak, "we thought Maybe make packaging with braille, but we quickly realized with the help of the project partners that only 5% of the visually impaired people know how to use this script. That's why we ended up with another solution, the one that is currently on the shelves. In September, we will launch an awareness campaign regarding the accessibility of the packaging and the associations themselves This helps us to raise awareness in front of the relevant target audience." 

"I learned where the products are"

In terms of financial cost, Spivak points out, "It was a one-time expense that was invested in the entire development process. When the development is finished, then in terms of production there are no additional expenses. This whole process of accessibility is part of an agenda and a systematic concept of equal opportunities and inclusion that is happening at Strauss in general and also at our salty division, such as, for example, the removal of gluten from all snacks, the removal of the peanut allergen concern from potato chips and Doritos snacks. We are constantly on this journey to provide a variety of choices to a variety of audiences."

"In Israel, about 24,000 people hold a blind certificate, of which 10% have complete blindness, and the majority have various levels of visual impairment. Besides, there are about 100,000 people in Israel who face a dramatic difficulty in seeing, but do not hold a blind certificate, among them, for example, older people who suffer from vision problems", says Eran Gal, director of knowledge dissemination and accessibility at Migdal Or.

A person with blindness or visual impairment, he explains, faces consumer challenges on several levels, including dealing in the public space and finding the product he is looking for as well as receiving information from a product. "Therefore, the goal is to make the products such that the information will be accessible in a convenient and independent way even for a person with a visual impairment," he says. "All over the world there is still a gap in the level of receiving information from the products for the target audience in question, and quite a few are working on apps and all kinds of solutions that can help with this. The Strauss process, which we were partners in, is a leap forward here in Israel in terms of making information about a consumer product accessible. As far as the future is concerned, I imagine an environment where a person with a disability will be able to get information about many products like a person without a disability."

Is it really realistic?

"I think so, at least in my area of expertise - vision. I think that by strengthening the understanding with business companies, the issue can be promoted. One of the most significant things in this process is that the voice of the consumer himself will be part of this way to make the processes more accurate. In my opinion, we will see a strengthening of the process in the coming years. You can see that already now, following the war of iron swords, the awareness of people with various disabilities is rising among the public, and among other things among people who are in key positions."

"I was recently in the supermarket, there was a short man standing next to me who couldn't get something off the shelf and asked for help. I told him: 'Just direct me, because I can't see well,'" says Fani Redai, 29, a coordinator at the club for the blind in Rishon Lezion. She herself is visually impaired, and was part of the focus group that included about 50 people of various ages that helped develop the new Strauss packaging.

From Radai's point of view, if more products are sold in supermarkets, it will be very significant for her. "I live alone, lead a completely independent life, and if I don't do the shopping for myself - no one will do it for me," she says. "First of all, I have one super that I go to regularly, that I really learned where the products are, that they don't move them. But I also want to know what I'm buying, that is, what ingredients are in the product, how many calories, to see what the validity is. Sometimes because I can't see, it turns out that I buy a product whose validity is for a few more days when there are products with a longer validity on the shelf. Also, when all kinds of new products come out, I want to understand them. If the various companies would pay more attention to people with visual impairments, then they would be able to reach some kind of solution that would help. But it's a process that requires time and maybe even money."