Respect for a superior apple
Apples: they’re all the same aren’t they? Maybe that’s OK if you’re buying them, but not so good if you’re a seller. How do you encourage buyers and consumers to purchase your apples and not another grower’s?
This was this question the apple producers of the Val di Non area in northern Italy posed us 15 years ago. They needed a way of protecting their reputation for growing high quality fruit and identifying their apples among a host of competitors. Our answer: let’s create a brand people will recognise and love.
Fruitful relationships
The brand name Melinda brought together 5,700 independent growers under a single banner dedicated to cultivating the highest quality apples in the region. Apples with the Melinda label have distinctive characteristics, recognisable by their flavour, texture, shape and colour.
The new identity and its accompanying brand guidelines were immediately accepted, despite growers who were at first a touch cynical about getting everyone to agree on a common identity that would meet with their approval.
As part of the strategy to build awareness and brand reach across as many touch points as possible, partnerships with apple product converters were secured to use Melinda apples in juices, purées, snacks and other foodstuffs. The Melinda growers would provide the apples, guaranteeing their quality by ensuring the prominent appearance of the Melinda brand mark on all apple product packaging.
Apples of distinction
Our collaboration with Melinda growers and their partners has been a long one. For more than 15 years we have continued to design packaging solutions for over 40 different Melinda apple products. Today these can be found in every major supermarket chain as well as local independent speciality shops in Italy and other countries. Our work has contributed to increased visibility and value for the brand, making Melinda the most recognised and loved apple in Italy. We are happy to say that what we set out to achieve 15 years ago has become a reality.