Somerfield hails Taxi repackaging

Somerfield is to relaunch more than 100 own-brand products this autumn, including its entire health and beauty range, with packaging designed by Taxi Studio in a project worth more than £100 000 in design fees to the consultancy.

The revamp is part of the chain’s move to overhaul its brand image. The first products to showcase the new look include a ready meals range, which launched last week, and fresh soups, which launch next month.

Somerfield has recently updated its visual identity, designed by FLB, and the retailer is also ‘doing a lot of work with regards to store environments and contemporising that image’, says Somerfield own-brand design manager Carole Baker.

Own-brand products are particularly important to Somerfield as they account for over 45 per cent of the company’s business in terms of both ‘quantity and value’, adds Baker.

‘It’s important we keep the look refreshed, with both the products in the range and the packaging,’ she says.

The consultancy has been briefed to bring ‘synergy and consistency’ to the packaging, although each range has its own look, says Taxi Studio joint creative director Spencer Buck.

‘”Good food made easy” is the company strapline and the mantra for our packaging design. We look at what is easy about the packaging, for example soups are now in a clear pot rather than plastic bags, which were not as user friendly or visually attractive,’ he explains.

Taxi Studio was appointed in January to design packaging for Somerfield’s ready-to-cook range and was awarded further projects on the strength of this work, says Buck.