Bec verseur: consumer habits become a form of art

Pouring spouts in France: a passion that goes beyond the boundaries of major retail chains

Spouts are used extensively in some countries in the packaging of many different types of product. One such country is France.
Not far from the Eiffel Tower you’ll find a multitude of producers and customers who are used to having an extremely practical and efficient way to dose and use their product.

French consumers have long since acknowledged the practicality of a spout to dose food products and others, and refuse to go without such as useful system on their sugar, powdered milk, beer yeast and germes de blé (wheat germ).

Quite a few people protested vehemently when a well-known sugar producer tried to use integrated spouts instead of good old dosing spouts, and the protest was so heartfelt the sugar producer soon had to rethink the decision and reintroduce the more popular dosing system.

The significance of the spout in terms of consumer habits in France has even been picked up on by artists, perhaps one might say inspired by the works of Andy Warhol, who used it in their art. Some fine examples of this can be found in the works of Richard Fauguet.
Fauguet, born in 1963, is a well-known artist and a master of the plastic arts; he’s made his own particular mix of “art and pop culture” his calling card.

His art is often thought-provoking, and combines artistic elements with “pop” culture consumer elements.
Spouts have played the role of protagonist in many of his works, in this form of decontextualization.
One such work is simply called “Untitled” and features sugar dosing spouts on postcards, paying homage to great sculptors of the past like Brancusi, Dan Flavin and Picasso.
As we came up with the idea and created this system, it was a pleasure to see how apparently incompatible elements from totally different worlds (academic culture and pop culture) can, in the talented hands of an artist, be transformed into something that’s truly a joy to behold!
Another reason why we continue to study new ways to innovate our products also for “novel” new markets; a real treat for the eyes!