I’m working on a project with my interns that helps them build their writing skills. Here’s the fourth one, by Natalia: a recap on the new Spare Snacks rebrand.
Spare Snacks, formerly Spare Fruit, is the type of company you should want to support just on principle. The whole concept behind the snack is that it uses fruit that is deemed “the wrong shape, size, or color” and dehydrates them and then turns them into chips. The aim of the company to raise awareness of food waste in general, but specially in the UK.
The old branding was very minimalist and clean, with a geometric san serif typeface coupled with watercolor illustrations. While it aided the brand in standing out on the shelves, it looked much more science-y and space aged. Now, the new identity uses bright colors and hand-cut letters, coupled with personified fruits and veggies that are now original characters. Six new colors work in a set of three and the brand alternates the colors when highlighting different flavors.
When it comes to collateral outside of the packaging for the chips, the dynamic use of the papercut shapes really helps to push the playful vibe the brand is trying to go for. However, have we pigeonholed organic brands too much? Do they all have to look raw and organic and hand-drawn? Kamil Walecki affirms that they preferred the previous packaging, saying that, “Now it’s oh-so-natural-wind-blown-fried?-God-forbid! product wrapped in chemical, high-contrast neon colors like any given soda in ’00s.” It’s important to remember the target audience, TKO reminds; “I would say that their target is probably kids’ lunchboxes – if that’s the case, no kid wants the former packet, which was probably the issue. I would argue that this nicely allows a parent to pick up a bright-looking kid-friendly snack and then be able to read into the benefits of ugly fruit as a second plus.” I can’t help but agree.
Spare Snacks rebranded in a way that, although not unique to their market, does make them stand out with their strong use of handmade aspects and bright color palette. With a tagline of “Waste Not, Want Lots,” I can’t wait to see what more Spare comes up with for flavors down the road.
Source: Under Consideration