Tag Archives: food packaging design

Giving a pioneer organic coffee brand a new buzz

July 17, 2019Newsagency, award-winning, Beverages, brand consultant, branding, branding agency, Café Altura, Coffee, consultant, consumer packaged goods, design, drinks, food and beverage, food packaging design, graphic packaging design, Mark Oliver, Mark Oliver Inc, MOI, package design, strategic brand designMark Oliver

The Origins of Cafe Altura date back to the late 1970’s when a group of organic enthusiasts gathered in Ojai, California to live and work on a 75-acre citrus farm. Their idea was to farm the ranch organically and develop related businesses.

One afternoon, a group of visitors told them a story of a farm in Mexico that had been growing coffee using organic and Biodynamic techniques for 20 years. They went off to Chiapas, Mexico, and begin importing organically-grown coffee beans, becoming the first company in the U.S. to do so.

Cafe Altura has been in business for more than thirty years but the branding had not been updated since the 1980s. We were given the assignment to create new branding and packaging designs, stress organic, improve quality and value perceptions and increase visibility in the store. The design had to work with whole bean, ground and instant products for more than 80 SKUs.

We focused on the firm’s authenticity, the real “story” behind the product; on organic ingredients; on the quality of the beans sourced from family farms; and on a great taste experience.

We created a narrative of the company history with the text and specific visual cues. An illustration of a farmer tending his coffee trees anchors the concept visually, focusing attention on the organically grown family-farm product link. The new look projects a warm, friendly, feeling to the consumer and has been well-received by customers, brokers, distributors and store buyers.

How to build a Greek food brand.

Where do brands come from? Many have a rich legacy, others are created from scratch. Armed with the ambition to sell their Greek food products in the U.S. and a desire to win over the American consumer with superior flavors and quality, we were approached by a manufacturer to position, name, brand, and design packaging for their pistachio products. According to the USDA, consumption of pistachio nuts is increasing due to their health benefits. Most grocery stores carry one or more brands of pistachios and the financial impact of the U.S. pistachio industry exceeds $1.5 billion.

But these pistachios were different; they were Greek. In the past decade the popularity and sales of Greek food products has exploded due to the attention focused on the healthful Mediterranean diet. There are no imported Greek Pistachios in the U.S. marketplace. Because the source of the product was Greece, it was a very clean product, and the intended market would be places like Whole Foods, it was obvious to position the product as a healthy imported Greek product.

Naming was the next step. Our solution, “Hellas Farms,” communicated the brand’s origins using the original name English-speaking people used for Greece. Next, we solidified the message with the tagline “The Flavors of Greece,” additionally identifying the origin while opening the door to other types of line extensions.

Using selected Greek iconography, images, colors, and fonts to evoke the “Greek” origination of the product, we created a design for mass-marketing Greek Pistachios which would appeal to consumers in the 25+ category, and stand out in the salty snack sector of grocery or at the checkout-stand. Made market-ready in 1.75 oz bags featuring a cluster of pistachios and the feature copy “handpicked & roasted, lightly brined with Greek sea salt,” Hellas Farms Greek Pistachios made their way across the Atlantic to the American consumer this past summer and is rolling out first on the east coast.

SAMPLE BAGS

American grilling meets Danish smoke.

The backyard BBQ is a fixture in almost every U.S. home. Everyone has their own way of grilling meats and veggies. Some chefs prefer gas; yet others enjoy the flavor of Mesquite. But an increasing number opt for the savory flavors of the smoker.

What if you could combine the best of both—grill and smoke at the same time? Made in Denmark, our client’s trays contain a mix of beech-wood dust and spices. When heated, the tray emits flavored smoke. But packaging that sold in Denmark did not sell here. The product line had to be re-made for the States.

New and old packaging.

The challenge to the team at MOI was to create packaging that was appropriate to the target consumer: males 25-55, who dominate the grilling demographic. The product line had to show flavor components, and work in modular display configurations.

In strategizing the makeover, we proposed using a sleeve instead of a label. This provided the product with a “billboard.” A logo was designed to indicate product use. Iconic graphics conveyed product qualities, and windows showed the mixes. Modular POS structures enabled the line to fit into the deli section of grocery stores as well as hardware store grilling departments.

Positioned with the statements: “Fast & easy smoking for gas or charcoal grills” and “Gourmet smoke for any dish,” the products arrived stateside in time for the peak-grilling season.