Sun-Maid: Packaging Design - Vanilla Yogurt Raisins 6-pack

Food-and-beverage marketing-specialist quench has redesigned packaging for the venerable Sun-Maid raisins brand and Sun-Maid’s other whole-fruit products. The newly designed packages, which began hitting shelves this month, exhibit changes that aim to appeal to millennial shoppers looking for healthy snacks for their families.

The better-for-you snack brand has been selling raisins and other whole fruits on the promise of natural, wholesome goodness since 1912. Brands that make it past the 100-year milestone are clearly still resonating with consumers, and Fresno-based Sun-Maid Growers of California is no exception; the packaging had not changed since the 1970s.

In 2019, Sun-Maid introduced its first advertising in a decade, also produced by quench, which prompted considerations to modernize its packaging. Consumer feedback helped validate that a refresh was in order, and indicated fondness for the brand’s nostalgic design, so it was important to preserve that quality while making changes that allow it to appear timeless.

"Our work needed to be an evolution, as opposed to a revolution," said quench Creative Director Keith Seaman. “We were sensitive to customers whose feelings were expressed in comments such as, ‘Changing this package would be like taking the stars off of the American flag.’”

Maintaining the integrity of the iconic little red box was key. The agency gave Sun-Maid’s female mascot Lorraine (named after a real person) a bit more space and depth on the packages and made the sun rays surrounding the illustration more prominent. The image pops as a result.

The new design also calls out key product differentiation, functional benefits and appetite appeal that millennials want in food products, such as “0g of added sugar,” “made with whole fruit,” and influential Non-GMO Project verification on the front of packages.

Seaman said, “We needed a consistent look and feel across all SKUs, so the system we developed produces a clean read and look that applies to current products but can also play nicely with new product innovations.”

The look quench created gives the brand a strong, unified identity and identifies each product’s details, such as the fruit type or whether it is organic or flavored, and provides the most important information priority in a bold, modern font.

The updated packaging for Sun-Maid snacks will continue to roll out nationally through 2020.