Package Design | packagedesignmag.com

(February 2011) posted on Tue Mar 08, 2011

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The line between burgeoning national brands and private label lines is blurring more and more each year. Walmart Canada recently debuted an 80+ SKU natural product brand called Wholesome Goodness that will stand toe-to-toe with national brands. The Wholesome Goodness brand owners partnered with the united* dsn design firm to define the “better-for-you” segment and fully realize its potential in package design.
To consumers, this brand is probably going to be seen as a Walmart private label brand because of the number of SKUs and the consistent, straightforward branding. However, the brand owner has not limited future agreements and is looking for partners in the U.S. for distribution. Wholesome Goodness brings to retail an original brand concept that seizes the opportunity the brand owner saw in the better-for-you segment.
Perry Seelert, managing partner at united* dsn, with offices in New York and San Francisco, sat down with Package Design to discuss the project and how this brand developed.

PD: What was the difficulty in previous attempts at “better-for-you” private label?
Seelert: There’s tremendous health awareness happening, but there’s also an irony. Many consumers claim to want healthier food, but few actually follow through on it with purchases. People won’t sacrifice taste; that’s all there is to it. It’s fixed in people’s minds that better-for-you has a horrible taste association, and product and package design have not provided a compelling new story.

PD: How do you break out of that mindset?
Seelert: The challenge is that behavior hasn’t followed desire. But when you step back and look at consumers, the desire is still there. From preliminary research, it was clear to us that everyone still wants better-for-you, so we saw a tremendous opportunity. Our goal was to look at what was done in the past and throw to the wayside what was clearly not working. One way to do that is to leave the puritanical mindset of denial behind and embark on an approach that’s more celebratory.

PD: How much did competitive product exploration inform the design direction?
Seelert: The design approach came from a thorough observation of the better-for-you offerings currently on the market. Wholesome Goodness is about cracking the code for something that’s been tried several times. The food has to taste right first. After that, the package design must reinforce the quality of every product.