Like all businesses, the way you express yourself through branding in the food industry is crucial. Your branding can say so much about you, and it's the one e
Like all businesses, the way you express yourself through branding in the food industry is crucial. Your branding can say so much about you, and it's the one element that allows you to really distinguish yourself from your competitors.
From standing out on the shelf, to creating smart digital campaigns, clever billboards, and commercial advertising, your look and feel is what’s going to help you stand out from the crowd, be it in busy supermarkets and food outlets or an overwhelmed online space.
Whether you are focussed on sustainability, the plant based market, or future oriented innovation and technology in the food industry, your branding should convey who you are and what you stand for at a glance - encapsulating the values you maintain and connecting with the audience you are trying to reach. Here are 3 ways your food business can stand out through branding.
1. Striking packaging
Creating a brand that allows you to flex some ingenuity and diversity in your packaging gives your business the opportunity to be distinct and memorable.
When Plenty decided to rebrand they went with a new look that was far removed from all the leafy green colours and styles that we’re used to seeing from a farming company delivering products like arugula, kale, lettuce, bok choy, and mizen. Instead they opted for bold colours and a more delicious looking approach that feels accessible to all.
This out-of-the-box direction is what you'd hope to see from an innovative, vertical farming company using cutting-edge techniques to grow pesticide-free, non-GMO leafy greens - but not necessarily what you’d expect.
Stocked at select grocery stores and through online delivery partners in the US, this contemporary packaging using oversized custom typography had the products jumping off the shelves, and shows how the right stand out packaging can make all the difference to your brand.
2. Develop a unique style
Developing a unique style can help distinguish your business from all the other food brands out there, and means it becomes instantly recognisable - not just for an extraordinary product, but for its individual look and feel too.
Dutch company Meatable did this by using an element of vintage flair to create a brand ‘look’ that reflects times gone by, for an exceptionally forward thinking business. Meatable is a company pioneering a new way to make real meat by replicating the process of natural fat and muscle growth, producing traditional butcher cuts in a lab - meaning it is fully sustainable and harm free.
The brand was designed to reflect an old, nostalgic world, where livestock can roam freely and the planet is a cleaner place, and is inspired by vintage holiday postcards and advertising styles from the 60s. A wordmark that resembles a stamp reflects a mark of quality, as normalising this idea of the ‘new natural’ was central to the brief.
This approach is completely unique for a brand and business of this nature, combined with a copy style that is statement led and grabs your attention. This is a food business that you won’t easily forget.
3. Simplify and structure
Never underestimate the power of simplifying and adding structure to your food brand in order for it to stand out more.
The famous Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (originally The Kraft Dinner) was first introduced in 1937, and 85 years later it’s received something of a brand face lift. Renamed ‘Kraft Mac & Cheese’, the iconic dry, non-perishable food product from the Kraft Heinz Company is sporting a new pared back look and feel - and as a result it’s never looked better.
The evolution of this brand sees a simplification across the board and incorporates not only the name and logo but also brand colours, typography, photography, iconography, and packaging. Reducing the number of shades of blue means that the brand instantly pops, and filled out typography with a juicy smiling noodle gives this brand evolution a more contemporary and enticing feel. Packaging is less busy and a new hierarchy of messaging has been introduced, while still retaining key elements that feel familiar.
This is a great example of how a product and brand that has existed for a long time can be kept up to date by making it more simple, clean and streamlined, without losing its recognisability.
If you’d like to find out more about how BRND WGN can help you define and develop your food brand, then please get in touch - martin@brndwgn.com
