Schwartz spice brand goes transparent in redesign

The herbs and spices range has been given new packaging by studio BrandOpus, to better showcase the ingredients within jars and encourage more people to cook at home.

Consultancy BrandOpus has redesigned the packaging for herbs and spices range Schwartz, as part of a wider redesign for its parent company McCormick.

McCormick is a global company that owns many iterations of the Schwartz spice brand, including Schwartz in the UK, Ducros in France, Spain and Belgium, Margao in Portugal and Silvo in the Netherlands. The new look will roll out across all these brands. The brand identities for Schwartz, Ducros, Margao and Silvo remain the same.

The spices, which come in glass jars, will now have a transparent label, showing off more of the colours and textures of the ingredients inside with the aim to inspire more people to cook at home, according to BrandOpus.

The name of the seasoning will appear in the centre of the label in a bold sans-serif typeface in all caps – most names have been written in white, except the minced garlic which is green, for contrast.

Around this is a circle of “vibrant” colour, with variants including green, orange, red, yellow and purple, depending on what is inside. The colour of the lid matches the circle.

Images of key ingredients in their fresh form, such as whole chillies or coriander leaves, are on the bottom left of the circle, while descriptions such as “hand-picked” are on the right.

The “dynamic” new look is intended to spark creativity in the kitchen, according to BrandOpus, as well as showcase the “quality” of the products.

The structure of the glass containers has also been redesigned by Webb DeVlam. The curvaceous design of the old jars has been swapped out for a simple, straight glass container with a two-tone lid and more space for a spoon to be inserted into the jar.

The visual identity is being applied to over 1,500 pieces of packaging, as well as new communications materials and is centred around the brand strategy of “stimulating the senses”.

Spices that come in boxes will follow a similar design, but will have a cardboard-coloured background and more images of ingredients.

The redesign is part of a wider campaign to “further drive brand preference and relevance in today’s modern, foodie world”, according to the consultancy.

Paul Taylor, chief creative officer at BrandOpus, says: “We wanted to create a more vibrant and dynamic look and feel that will drive impact on shelf and shift perceptions from a commoditised ingredient to an exciting source of flavour and inspiration for [customers’] cooking.”

The new visual identity is set to launch across the UK and the rest of Europe over coming months.

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Comments
  • paul turner October 15, 2019 at 5:17 pm

    Of course they couldn’t have the intelligence to make the new jars fit the current rack.

  • Chris Beckett March 31, 2020 at 12:16 pm

    How on earth do you open the jar and remove the inner protective cover. Wonderful designing I don’t think!

  • Chris Beckett March 31, 2020 at 12:20 pm

    I have done it by lifting the plastic top from its base all round the jar and then bring a vice grip to the top and twisting it.

  • Iris Weir April 30, 2020 at 12:48 pm

    Terrible design. I have wrenched my hand trying to get the inner protective layer off and still haven’t succeeded.

  • Iris Weir April 30, 2020 at 12:57 pm

    Just gave up and punched it through with a nail. Works fine now

  • Sue collins September 7, 2020 at 4:06 pm

    How do we open these new design spice jars – at £1.75 each?

  • sue collins September 7, 2020 at 4:10 pm

    Open the flip top lid and then the whole of the coloured top can be twisted off ( quite easily )

  • Lilymae December 20, 2020 at 10:10 am

    What a dreadful design and totally inept lid which, in my opinion, is not fit for the purpose. Having unsuccessfully tried to screw the lid off, rather than risk damaging my hand I asked my husband to help!
    In his workshop he used his hot air gun on the lid for a few seconds and it screwed off immediately so I could remove the white protective covering.
    What a performance, I won’t be buying any more Schwartz spices.

  • Pensioner December 20, 2022 at 4:42 pm

    Can’t get the top off, ridiculous ! I’ll have to pierce with an awl. Please give instructions on jar, thats if you know how.

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