SAUCE OF INSPIRATION

One jar of tomato pasta sauce can look much like another. Unilever was using the same ‘egg’ shaped jar for many of its sauce ranges across Europe – which was cost effective but meant the different brands lacked identity. Unilever wanted to raise the profile and quality perceptions of its Knorr Ragu sauce.

 

Design Bridge decided to focus its structural design around the tomato. The London-based design consultancy created a trademarked shaped jar that helps Knorr Ragu stand out on shelf and communicates that the sauce is packed with tomatoes. Head of 3D structural branding and packaging Nick Verebelyi says that Design Bridge considered plastic and glass for the jar, but decided to stick with glass because of its superior potential to create a unique shape and its quality cues.

 

However, he says there can be resistance to creating such a challenging shape for a high volume item. With high volume FMCG price is key. With a shape like the Ragu jar it is going to be more expensive; you do need to use more material, he says.

 

Verebelyi adds that there can be other constraints. You need to put a label on the jar, which means it can only curve in one direction. You can’t put a label on a ball. For this reason, the ‘tomato’ in the middle of the Ragu jar is not spherical.

 

The bottom of the jar is also embellished with embossed tomatoes. Sales and brand recognition increased significantly after the redesign.