In 2020 the company had completed four additional acquisitions, with each acquisition adding a new specialty heritage brand to the Village Gourmet portfolio in line with consumer demand driving growth in the small-batch protein and snacking categories, especially with a focus on premium ingredients and clean labels. Overall, Village Gourmet operates four SQF-certified facilities across the U.S. and is comprised of a national marketing and sales network, with their products sold nationwide through specialty and national retail, foodservice, meal kit providers, eCommerce, mass and club channels. The companies within Village Gourmet have over 200 years of history of winning consumer loyalty through a shared commitment to time-honored recipes and high-quality ingredients.
In light of this growth and anticipating a recapitalization in 2021, Village Gourmet needed a cohesive corporate identity and digital presence as we built out the team and increased our communications.
The Challenge:
Carve out a B2B branding strategy for Village Gourmet that anticipates further growth and communicates our vision to future investors. We were also growing our Village Gourmet team and increasing our brand communications, and in phase 1 we needed logotypes, colors, fonts, business cards, corporate presentations, printed marketing collateral, a website, and social media presence.
Solution:
With digital & creative agency Digital Mustard and through collaboration with our CEO, I directed the development of the following: primary and secondary logo, color palettes, business cards, and the development of a website (Squarespace). I also wrote our corporate copy and boilerplate language, created our corporate LinkedIn page, and created sales decks/presentation templates.
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Branding
The logo design reflects our core values and collection of brands: modern sans-serif font combined with a retro-inspired text that speaks to the company’s mission of reinvigorating heritage brands.
A color palette anchored by deep hunter green and shades of burnt umber and sandy brown compliments our premium brands and gives a nod to shades found in nature - reflecting our commitment to all natural products free from artificial ingredients or preservatives.
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Mission
The company had a vision but it needed definition in order to communicate our purpose and difference to potential investors or for future acquisitions. We also needed a lodestar to follow and keep in mind as we developed new products. After internal surveys and discussion with the C-suite and board, we defined the following values:
1) Commitment to Quality
2) Authentic, Heritage Brands
3) Innovation
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Digital Presence
The project culminated with the launch of a company website, with a focus on B2B marketing and lead generation.