Brother Design has done New Zealand proud by walking away with four golds and the coveted ‘Best of Show’ gong at the Vertex Awards, an annual international awards show dedicated exclusively to packaging design for private label (home brand) product ranges.
This year, the awards show received entries from 11 different international markets, and each of Brother’s awards came for work that the agency had completed for a range of products under the Pams label, which is owned by Foodstuffs.
The biggest winner of the show was Brother’s packaging for Pams flour, which picked up a gold in the packaged goods category and was also recognised as the best piece of work entered into the competition.
Comments posted on the Vertex website heap praise on the creative efforts of Brother, placing particular emphasis on the way in which the branding imagery hints at nostalgic moments that typify the experience of baking.
“From amidst the scattered flour and delicious smell of cookies and muffins baking, comes the rewarding satisfaction of home baking, shared by many a generation. The Pam’s Private Label flour range captures this sense of baking nostalgia with familiar baking icons and charming fabrics woven from another time of wisdom and practicality. Just like good bread, these packs are wonderfully wholesome,” says the site’s write-up on Brother’s work.
And these sentiments were shared by Foodstuffs’ national private label manager Jocelyn McCallum, who spoke about how easy it has been for her team to collaborate with Brother.
“Brother Design has been great to work with – they understand our business needs in creating attractive and effective designs which hit the mark. To have Pams receive such high praise and international recognition makes us immensely proud and is a further confirmation of the calibre of their work.”
This victory will taste all the sweeter for Foodstuffs, given that it pipped its nemesis across the ditch, Woolworths/Progressive, to take the ‘Best of Show’ award.
“To have a Kiwi brand outshine designs created for global retail giants such as Tesco and Lidl from Europe, America’s Safeway or Australia’s Woolworths is confirmation that Foodstuffs is a great retailer, and when we team up with experts such as Brother Design, we can lead the world in key areas such as packaging,” says McCallum.
Brother’s other three golds came for the packaging designs of Pams milk (milk, cream and butter category), Pams premium ice cream (frozen category) and Pams nappies (baby range category).
Interestingly, these awards come at time when home brands are starting to take over an increasing share of shelf space at New Zealand’s supermarkets.
An article published by the Herald in August last year indicated that there were 2,500 Pams products stocked at New World stores at the time of writing. The same trend also applied at Countdown, which had 2,400 home brand products available in its stores.
And it seems that consumers are starting to ditch brand loyalty in favour of products that are more affordable. Statistics from Foodstuffs indicate that private label products make up approximately 13 percent of Foodstuffs total grocery sales with Pams contributing 8.5 percent.
