Packaging

Not so long ago, “fruity” automatically meant “colorful” in the world of package design. After all, not only do tropical colors tend to signal sweet flavors in the food industry, they also are very useful for immediate variety differentiation.

When a consumer is walking down a beverage aisle and they see a bright fuchsia bottle, for example, their minds will probably automatically think “berry”. Since brands only have a few precious seconds to communicate their product to shoppers, effective indicators such as bright color schemes have been coveted for being easy to plan and relatively universal.  

That being said, it was previously practically unthinkable for a brand like Vita Coco to move from a vibrant color scheme to a muted one, and yet that is exactly what we are seeing happening in the juice category.

Just last month, we mentioned in a writeup that GoodBelly had opted for a rare black scheme for its line of probiotic juices. Here, we can see Vita Coco following a similar path, transitioning from a tropical look to one that is flatter and more modern, with a clean white background.

Part of the reason for this could be that some shoppers are starting to view bright colors as a sign of artificialness in food and beverages, and this is a scary label that many manufacturers are steadfastly trying to avoid. This is particularly true in the juice category, which has to do extra work to convince health-conscious consumers that their products aren’t essentially just soda.

Juice brands going after healthy consumers are facing more competition than ever, with the recent increase in low-calorie flavored waters and portable drink mixes offering shoppers an unprecedented amount of options.

In 2020, it is just as important for juice brands to signal natural, beneficial ingredients as it is to signal the flavor variety. This has manifested in more stripped-down packaging than we are used to seeing, with pops of attractive color against more neutral backgrounds. This trend has led to overall more contemporary design, and we are excited to see our color palette expectations further subverted as it catches on in more categories.

We have called out this trend on Instagram, where we are running a new series called #TrendTuesday. Follow Works Design Group’s account for weekly insights for a variety of categories from across the grocery store.