One of the many decisions to be taken by a food producer as their business grows is whether to supply large food retailers with own brand products.

The elements of this decision involve scale, loss of brand awareness, margins, cashflow and dedication of resources to a part of the business which may not be core to their plans in the future.

Not every large retailer is the same and that is part of the complexity. If the decision involves retaining the producer brand as part of the product packaging then that can mitigate that element of the compromise.

This is 2 product shots from the Co-op chain in Sweden (taken while on holiday recently in Stockholm). In each you can see the consistent way in which the producer is named and credited on the packaging – adding to the authenticity of the range. This is a link to the page (in Swedish) on the Prima range which these are taken from.

From that page “We’ve tasted our way to the very best and will start with 50 carefully selected delicacies. All are original label and produced by suppliers with a passion for really good food. Now it’s your turn to enjoy the Coop Prima.”

Like that a lot.

Keith

For me a food brand is nothing without the people behind it and this batch of packaging designs picks up on that theme as a way of connecting their brands with consumers on the shelf edge.

Peeze by SoGood

I have seen this regularly from smaller coffee brands – especially those who work with Fairtrade systems. Very interesting comment on the blog post this came from: “this is ridiculous. designed for a bunch of white people on the netherlands so they can see the “many colors” of the developing world without feeling bad about how people get exploited. commodification at its best.”

Fair point – a quick glance at their website and they do not appear to use any of the mainstream Fairtrade certification although they could still have strong and supportive relationships with their suppliers.

Nice packaging one way or another!

via Lovely Package

Sigtuna by Morkman

Putting it out there – this is superb. A micro brewery close to Stockholm where the Chief Brewer Mattias is not afraid to get up close and personal with his customers. For any and all Irish artisan and local food brands – be bold. This IS about you and don’t be afraid to show it 🙂

[note – the brewery concerned do not appear to have a website – this is a good interview with Mattias]

via Lovely Packaging

Sweet and Hot by Ivanna Shashkina

Part of the fun of Lovely Packaging is that they feature student design work regularly. This one is really effective and shows how humour could be integrated with the people theme.

via Lovely Packaging

Eno by LPW Studios

Nice blend of people and a retro feeling to give these wines a strong visual identity on the shelf. Both the winery owner and the designer have contributed in the comments – here is part of what Sasha from the winery said: “Some context- each year we change the label design (but keep the same typographic treatment of the logo, wine detail, etc). This particular year, 2004, was “a family archetypes”. Hence the names and the pictures of family members.”

This is important – the people concerned are real people and this brings this design execution beyond the realms of just another whim/concept dreamed up by the designer. For artisan food brands that authenticity is so important – and so easy.

via Lovely Packaging

If you liked this check out other packaging posts in this series here.

Keith

Braufactum by Flaechenbrand

This is a superb example of upmarket positioning by this craft brewery which was set up in Germany in August 2010. Take a look at the full post – the detail of every aspect of the bottles and labels is worth a couple of minutes of your time.

via TheDieLine

Brooklyn Gin by Spring Design Partners

Ok – more detail, hmmm. Looks like my post has a very premium positioning theme. And allowing myself a quick mention of their website as well:

That shot and description on their homepage is very evocative and oozes authenticity – the source and production backstory is one every artisan website should get into your face immediately.

Back to the design – “The bottle structure pays homage to the apothecary origins of gin, reinforcing its place in the new speakeasy, while the medallion label – stamped in metal – celebrates the authentic spirit at the core of the brand”. Always important to be clear on what is to be achieved with each aspect of a brand from website to labelling.

via TheDieLine

Love both of these – this is packaging which is expensive however there are lessons to be extracted for every brand.

Keith