IGA PLANNING TO REDESIGN PACKAGING FOR PRIVATE LABEL

MARYELLEN LO BOSCO

CHICAGO -- IGA here is embarking on a three-year plan to redesign, on a category-by-category basis, the packaging of some 3,200 private-label items.

The overhaul is timed to culminate in 2001, the year that IGA marks its 75th anniversary. According to Patrick Sylvester, IGA's vice president of marketing, the first category to get a new look will be cooking oil, expected on grocery shelves sometime in March.

He expects 80% of the items -- of which about 60% are grocery and 8% to 10% frozen food -- to be redesigned during the first 18- to 24-month period.

"We are going to create a design that is specific for each category," Sylvester said. "Each will have an individualized look as opposed to having a corporate image across lines. More store brands are [going this route], since we now have available the technology and graphics for packaging that were not possible 10 years ago."

Sylvester explained that even within categories -- for example, adult cereal and children's cereal -- packaging will differ. However, the IGA logo will remain consistent across categories, as well as IGA's "assured quality since 1926" statement. The logo itself has been slightly redesigned, to look more three-dimensional, although the color and shape remain the same.

IGA's decision to spruce up its packaging was based on a number of factors, said Sylvester, including the fact that some of the large distribution companies that service IGA stores, such as Fleming, Supervalu and Nash Finch, have recently redesigned their labels or are in the process of doing so.

"We have to be right up there with our owning companies in merchandising a good quality private-label line," Sylvester said.

Moreover, the current design is 10 years old and due for an overhaul. Finally, noted Sylvester, the 2001 marker and IGA's 75th birthday is a good time to roll out the revamped products. Sylvester said that the new packaging will help some of the categories stand out on the shelves, where previously they may have been lost because they were part of a more uniform corporate image.

The new design, which is being executed by Federated Group, Arlington, Ill., has the goal of projecting a contemporary image that reflects quality and builds brand equity. At the same time, the packaging will acknowledge the tradition and heritage of IGA, according to a company news release. IGA has the oldest private label under the same corporate ownership.