Branding

Limited window to apply for CDE branding grant

24-Oct-2023 By Teodora Lyubomirova

Value-added dairy businesses can still apply for a Center for Dairy Excellence (CDE) grant of up to $5,000.

Exclusive: Frozen Chinese food brand XCJ rebrands as MiLa as it expands its portfolio, distribution

23-Feb-2023 By Elizabeth Crawford

Xiao Chi Jie (XCJ), the modern Chinese food brand that helped put authentic soup dumplings on the US map by cultivating a cult-like direct-to-consumer following during the pandemic is ready to expand into brick and mortar stores this April with a new...

Mamma Chia rebrands to pop off shelf with natural, iconic, inclusive look

28-Jan-2022 By Asia Sherman

Mamma Chia, the maker of organic chia-based snacks and beverages, is updating its image to embrace inclusivity and stand out in an increasingly competitive natural foods segment.

M&M’s new campaign to bring people closer together triggers blowback, snark across social media

24-Jan-2022 By Elizabeth Crawford

The green M&M is trading in her go-go boots for kicky low-rise sneakers and toning down her sexuality as part of a brand refresh by Mars intended to make the candies “more inclusive, welcoming and unifying,” but it appears to be having the opposite...

Calypso’s turnaround: New flavors, low-sugar line & fresh look lift King Juice Co.’s flavored lemonade brand

05-Jan-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

Despite category-leading velocities and strong heritage branding, sales of King Juice Company’s flavored lemonade brand Calypso were declining mid-single digits when David Klavsons became the new CEO in 2017 -- months after the original founder sold the...

Study: Do consumers see ‘pretty’ food as healthier?

10-Nov-2020 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Food styling is a key marketing tool to make products, dishes, and meals look more appealing and appetizing, but does “pretty” food also impact its perceived healthiness? Preliminary research suggests there may be a link.

Sprouts Farmers Market on track to double business in 5 years with innovation, new branding

30-Oct-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Encouraged by strong third-quarter sales online and in stores as well as net sales in the period that grew twice that of a year ago, Sprouts Farmers Market is “financially stronger than ever,” and on track to double its business by 2025, according to...

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: ‘Irrational loyalty’ can help brands weather storms for long-term success

08-Jun-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

Supply chain snags, consumer stockpiling and retailers reprioritizing what to stock during the initial phases of the coronavirus pandemic meant many consumers had to go without their favorite brands and switch to available alternatives, but according...

'Incremental steps to be more eco-friendly': NadaMoo! unveils sugarcane-based packaging

05-Mar-2020 By Niamh Michail

Plant-based ice cream maker NadaMoo! is launching a new-look pint carton made from a more sustainably sourced sugarcane-based bioplastic.

Soup-To-Nuts Podcast: Why having a killer idea, product & passion isn’t enough for long term success

24-Jan-2020 By Elizabeth Crawford

As consumer interest in health, wellness and sustainability has lifted better-for-you brands out of the dark corners of stores to become a mainstream phenomenon in every category, marketers have gravitated to founders’ stories and social missions to attract...

Can big brands survive the next 10 years? It depends on whether they can evolve with consumers

11-Dec-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

While iconic brands currently are losing the tug-of-war with niche startups for consumer engagement and spending, how they continue to play the game in the next ten years will dictate whether they regain ground or become obsolete, according to senior...

‘Winning with words’: Storytelling leads Innova Market Insights top CPG industry trends for 2020

30-Oct-2019 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Storytelling is one of the most potent tactics food or beverage brands can use to win over consumers, who have become more interested in the story behind the products they’re purchasing, says Innova Market Insights in its top trends for 2020 report.

Investing in the Future of Food: Effective branding challenges the competition – not the consumer

17-Apr-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

One of the main goals of effective branding and packaging is to set a product apart from the competition, but how this is achieved is fundamental to whether a product will be embraced or shunned by consumers.

Investing in the Future of Food: Balance empathy & tension to break free from the ‘giant sea of sameness’

10-Apr-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

While the food and beverage industry is virtually oozing with innovation as entrepreneurs launch category-breaking and -making ideas at a rapid-fire clip, the full potential of many new products and companies is held back by lackluster branding that a...

Investing in the Future of Food: Start with the consumer when rebranding, advises Endangered Species Chocolate

20-Mar-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

While modern wisdom may favor launching fast and iterating quickly based on consumer feedback, the director of innovation at Endangered Species Chocolate says when it comes to packaging and branding it is better to slow down and invest in consumer research...

ZÜPA NOMA rebrands as Medlie to better reflect its expanding portfolio of snackable vegetables

04-Mar-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

After helping to pioneer the nascent drinkable soup segment, the startup ZÜPA NOMA is ready to expand into adjacent categories with a fresh look, different name and new products.

Once Again Nut Butter overhauls packaging with a simplified look that will improve ‘shopability’

14-Feb-2019 By Elizabeth Crawford

Already the top-selling organic nut butter brand, according to SPINS, Once Again Nut Butter is dramatically overhauling its branding to improve the products' “shopability,” and make it easier for time-pressed shoppers to quickly find the attributes...

KRā executes brand refresh and enters California: 'We kind of think of ourselves as the RXBAR of sports drinks'

01-Feb-2019 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Organic, 'no junk' sports drink, KRā needed to further differentiate itself within the $8.5bn sports drink category by launching new packaging that co-founder Sarah Hardgrove-Koleno says "absolutely shouts our brand differentiators: simple...

C.A. Fortune and JB Chicago converge to help level up early-stage brands: ‘The whole path to market has changed’

15-Jan-2019 By Mary Ellen Shoup

The road from startup to category leader is not for the faint of heart, and there are few end-to-end resources available to an emerging brand that can guide food entrepreneurs on branding and packaging all the way through to sales and marketing strategy.

The messy game of building a kids brand: 'We need to define our stories better'

11-Dec-2018 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Building a kids brand can get sticky, especially when the market is full of products that typically fall into two broad buckets: conventional products crowded with mascots, superheroes, and cartoon characters; or the stripped-down, simpler look of the...

Temple drops turmeric from name, branding to avoid being ‘pigeonholed,’ expand appeal

12-Sep-2018 By Elizabeth Crawford

As trendy as turmeric may be for now, the functional beverage brand known for years as Temple Turmeric is dropping the ingredient from its branding to avoid being “pigeonholed,” and to position the company more broadly around additional herbs for when...