When New French Bakery opened its newest plant in 2007, it knew its products needed to not only fit in with consumer desires but also stand out from the in-store bakery's "wall of brown."
The February 2010 article in Baking & Snack publication features an in-depth discussion about how New French Bakery is striving to stay ahead of the artisan bread competition. Just one facet of the strategy was partnering with Duffy for the rebranding and new packaging design, introduced May 2009.
An excerpt from the article (read more by downloading the PDF at the right):
CREATIVE MIX.
Mr.
Kelsey, who trained at the Cordon Bleu school in Paris and worked at a
3-star restaurant and Parisian bakery, knows how to make high-quality
baked foods with expensive ingredients. But he also understands that
with only four simple ingredients, a lot more has to go into the
process to outshine others in the market. In 2008, management began a
series of packaging changes to entice consumers to pick New French
items over others in the “wall of brown” of the in-store bakery. “I
knew that if we could motivate more people to try our product, we would
continue to elevate our sales with repeat customers,” Mr. Kelsey said.
“We also wanted to offer a brand that was recognizable and inviting
within the in-store bakery.”
Changes included clear packaging
with printed pastel blue and large
simple wording such as “TAKE BAKE SLICE SAVOR” and “GRILL SLICE SHARE
SMILE.” “We also adjusted the size of some baguettes and rolls so we
could ship all types of bread in a single sized corrugated tray versus
a box,” Mr. Kelsey said.
As it turned out, the shippable
display tray reduced corrugated use by 30%, saving resources. Head
space in the case was eliminated, thus enhancing integrity of the
products during shipping and storage. “We were actually able to reduce
our price to customers by close to 35%,” Ms. Rangel noted.