NASH FINCH UNVEILS REVAMPED PRIVATE-LABEL PACKAGING

Carol Angrisani

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nash Finch has redesigned its private-label line, and is introducing the new packaging one category at a time.

Ice cream is the first area in the 1,000-stockkeeping-unit line to feature the new design. It will be followed by cereal, canned goods, household chemicals and frozen foods. Though exact rollout dates have not been determined, the program will take about one year to 18 months to complete.

The retailer/wholesaler, based here, decided to update the packaging after sales began to lag, said Dick Hamblin, corporate brand manager. Created in 1904, Our Family was last redesigned in 1985. Recent studies have said that private-label packaging should be redesigned every three years, Hamblin added.

"Our labels started to get dated," said Hamblin. "We wanted to make them more contemporary. We wanted a fresh, new look."

Though it's not intended to be a premium private-label brand, the new packaging was designed to be as sophisticated as national brands, said Dick Weinrib, president, Marketing Visuals & Promotions, also based here, which updated the packaging.

"The old design was too mechanical, with a rigid set of rules that was out of touch with the impact that private label should have today," Weinrib said. "We made it look comparable to national brand competitors."

"Private label has to have the strength of national brand packaging, which keeps getting better and better," Weinrib added.

The new design also features the words "Quality and Value" printed on the front. "We wanted it known that those two words are synonymous," said Weinrib.

A tree pictured at the top of the packaging is now surrounded by a glowing sunrise "to give the packaging optimism," said Weinrib. Additionally, the lettering is now more formalized.

There's also more of an emphasis on product description. For instance, the words "Fruit Cocktail" are much more noticeable than before.

"We felt that product description was just as important as the brand name," Weinrib said.