Brand Identity For A Plant-Based Food Brand - Andina Ingham

Andina Ingham has over 20 years of experience in running its successful plant-based ingredients business in the UK. Recognised experts in their field, they pride themselves on creating the best taste and texture, supported by exclusive partnerships, to supply UK manufacturers with semi-finished and finished products.

Plant-based ‘alternatives’ to meat, fish and dairy products are difficult to get right. So, they also drive ideas, offer inspiration and provide advice to help British food manufacturers create the best plant-based food possible.

But the in-house team had always had a passion and ambition to create its own products too. So, with increasing global awareness on sustainability, environment and animal welfare alongside a growing personal health and wellbeing movement for more plant-based diets, the time felt right. And active development of meat-alternative prototypes and test and trial samples of finished products had led to some excellent results.  

Samples of a plant-based burger at the Food Matters Live Expo had caused queues and even raised comments from some that it ‘tasted a little too like meat’. 

It gave the team the confidence they needed that they had a real-meat alternative product.  The team recognised that they had taken the project as far as they could. They needed outside help to help them shift from concept to commercial reality and how best to create a new business and sub-brand to take them to the next stage. They had more questions than answers, so approached Flintlock Marketing for help.

Our starting point was to first understand the roots of the established Andina Ingham business and brand. Expressing these allowed us to create a ‘borrow and build’  brand platform and a brand architecture for The Group .

A House of Brands model was decided as the best route, establishing a clear demarcation for the trade and retail facing activities. From this, we had a clear path to step into developing a new brand strategy and identity for the ‘New Business’ brand. 

In a second phase, we took the team through our Spark Workshop to identify what was working, what needed improving, to identify what would differentiate and help the ‘New Business’ to stand out.

In addition, we interrogated the competitive set and positioning possibilities by looking across the market. In doing so, we were able to properly understand and identify the opportunity using three strategic take outs:

• A purely vegan market was smaller than those who eat meat but wish to cut down

• A ‘flexitarian’ diet is easier to adopt if people feel reassured they’re not giving up too much in taste and texture

• Reminding meat-eating consumers too strongly of plants might make the choice seem more compromised, so its semiotics and cues should not be the focus

In establishing this clear positioning for the product, we were able to inform and cyrstalise an ambition and purpose for the brand. 

In focussing on flexitarian, and building and borrowing from Andina Ingham’s brand roots, we were confident in stating a  brand essence of ‘No Compromise’. 

The essence was then supported with three evidenced brand pillars to give the team its reasons to believe. These would apply not just to marketing communications messaging but integrally to  how the product and brand decisions would be made and continue to evolve.

This connection was also evidenced in the feedback from customers and how they appreciated going into its non-judgemental environment.  To know that they could explore, find what they want, that it would work, and critically that someone encouraging and knowledgeable was on hand to talk to them. 

With the brand strategy agreed, we moved into establishing an aligned new name and creating an appropriate and impactful visual brand identity. Bearing in mind the positioning we needed a name that would take and blend cues from both the meat and plant-based markets. Clarity was essential with a tone that was approachable and inviting for the ‘flexitarian’ target consumer. 

The Eat Less Meat Company was born. It was clear, focussed and offered scope to establish a sub-set of future-proofed names for other alternative products that the team have in development. 

The creation of brand visual identity completed the process, and truly brings the strategy to visual life.

Approachable and appealing, the new name and visual identity are designed to stand out for consumers and to be clear what it stands for: no compromise.