Earlier this year, Bowery Farming, the largest U.S. vertical farming company, announced its brand evolution by ‘reimagining what a flavorful future tastes like’. “Consumers are increasingly seeking out brands that commit to transparency and social impact,” said Katie Seawell, Chief Marketing Officer.
“Our evolution over the past three years and recent brand refresh exemplifies a continued focus on simplicity, surety and safety in the food supply chain and our social impact has never been greater.” Bowery sees this as a brand evolution that better aligns with its commitment to growing flavorful food with a purpose and adds a level of transparency to the supply chain. This refresh communicates more directly to the target consumers - those that identity as creative experimenters.
Transparency
Pandemic-related disruptions focused attention on the preference of consumers to know where their food comes from. It’s no longer about just the ingredients and nutrients; now customers want to better understand production methods and social impact. Consumers are demanding greater transparency (more than 80% of shoppers say “transparency is important or extremely important to them now more than ever before” - FMI and Label Insight).
A safe food system
Seawell continues: “The pandemic has shone a light on just how fragile our food system is and we believe vertical farming plays a vital role in strengthening the local, regional food system because of location, simplicity, surety, safety and agility:
- Simplicity of the supply chain: By locating farms closer to the point of consumption, our produce reaches customers within a few days of harvest, so it has an extended shelf life and stays fresh. The location of the local Bowery farm where the produce was grown and harvested is clearly printed on each package, so consumers know where their food is coming from.
- Safety of the product: Our indoor environment allows Bowery to cultivate pesticide-free produce, and because we have a completely closed environment the risk of contamination from foodborne illness is drastically minimized. Each one of our farms is Safe Quality Food (SQF) certified - the highest level food safety standard in the industry.
- Surety of the supply chain: We can supply fresh, delicious produce reliably and consistently. We’re able to grow year-round so that consumers have access to fresh and healthy food during all seasons.”
Visually informing customers
The new packaging is designed to stand out on shelves with clean lines, familiar colors and clear callouts that visually inform the customer about the taste and type of produce. Bowery used color as a mechanism to organize the shelf and help customers better identify what they are buying, so each product family (e.g., lettuces, blends, dark leafy greens) has a different primary label color and each SKU has a unique secondary color to help differentiate it.
“Additionally, we’ve added flavor descriptors that are unique to each product on packaging (e.g. “peppery, velvety and courageous” on our Arugula) to clearly communicate taste and ignite the consumer’s sensory experience at the first point of touch; right there in the produce aisle,” Seawell states.
Feedback
Customers can trust when they see the Bowery label, they are purchasing high-quality, fresh produce, and will now see firsthand the positive social impact of our smart farming. Bowery received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from its retail customers and consumers about the evolved branding and packaging.
For more information:
Bowery Farming
press@boweryfarming.com
www.boweryfarming.com