A redesign of Divine Chocolate packaging is putting its farmer-owners front and centre.
The ‘Owned by Cocoa Farmers’ seal is stamped on the front all packages in the redesign, highlighting its ethical credentials and that family farmers in Ghana hold a 44% stake in the venture with board representation. Inside the packaging, each bar tells a different story about a farmer, the structure of the organisation and what the African Adinkra symbols, which adorn the packaging mean.
The sharing bars are hitting stores across the UK, USA and the rest of the world this month, while the rest of the product range is rolling out in 2018.
Divine says the design taps into consumer trends including demand for transparency on the provenance of ingredients, concern over nutritional content, and sustainability impact, all of which have grown in the past five years.
Divine appointed Lewis Moberly to lead the strategic design development for the change.The company says great care was taken to maintain important brand assets such as the intricate Divine logo, accents of gold and bold colours, and the recognisable pattern of Adinkra symbols. The changes mean the brand is bolder against the cleaner one-colour pattern, it adds.
“The new design also aims to boost impulse purchases by improving communication for premium chocolate decision-making,” Divine added. “The product name is more legible and more prominence is given to the percentage of cocoa. Divine research shows more than half of premium chocolate shoppers look for this when choosing quality chocolate.
Divine has made ethical commitments across its range for many years, but only communicated these consistently through marketing channels.
Ethical credentials now communicated on every pack include:
- no palm oil or soya
- all vegetarian with suitable choices for vegans (with a new Vegan Society certification)
- 100% pure cocoa butter (no vegetable fat substitutes)
- 100% FSC certified and recyclable paper and card
- being a certified B Corp
- commitment to no artificial and all natural ingredient
Marketing director Charlotte Green said: “Consumers are rightly becoming increasingly interested in what’s behind the food they are buying and as a trusted ethical brand we realised that we needed better to communicate what makes ours seriously good chocolate.”
She added: “We are already recognised for our luxury brand name, our distinctive packaging, commitment to Fairtrade and delicious chocolate. Now we want people to know we’re owned by the farmers that grow the cocoa because it’s what makes us special and drives brand loyalty.”
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