PERK!ER, a new gluten and wheat-free food brand, is to launch in Whole Foods Market with a range of handmade breads and treats with brand identity and pack labels designed by Holmes & Marchant.
The brand’s range of bread and treats will be in store from 29th September. The treats, including Popping Tiffin, Brownie with white choc chunks, Rocky Road and Brownie cake pops, will be on shelf from the end of this week at the natural and organic food retailer’s outlets nationwide. PERK!ER’s handmade bread, crusty white loaf and seeded multigrain will be sold at Whole Foods’ flagship store in Kensington High St.
All brand ranges will sport identity and packaging created by Holmes & Marchant in a strategy deliberately designed to subvert the category’s existing apologetic visual markers in order to achieve cut through. PERK!ER packs will liven up the greens, yellows, browns and greys that epitomise the gluten-free aisle with vibrant pink, orange and purple colourways.
According to PERK!ER co-founder Ann Perkins: “Our mission is to make gloriously gluten free food so delicious that everyone will enjoy it. So at PERK!ER we create food with fabulous looks, backed by our appealing brand identity, generous with the yummy bits and delicious to eat. Forget the gluten, we believe this is some of the yummiest food you’ll ever have.
“The H&M team has been an integral part of our brand identity development, passionately believing in us, our brand idea and our product range. They have been challenging when we’ve needed it, encouraging and inspiring too. The result is an engaging, powerful brand identity and range of packaging that has brought our brand proposition to life.”
Anna Campling, senior designer at Holmes & Marchant, added: “The visual identity was based on a concept idea called “ticket to life. It symbolises PERK!ER’s mission to give those avoiding gluten the opportunity to join in with great food. It’s not about compromise, it’s about creating the best-ever Rocky Road and offering customers a ‘ticket’ to a perkier life.”
Rebecca Fone, client services director at Holmes & Marchant, added: “One of the things that really excited us about PERK!ER was how much Ann and her co-founder, Steve Turner, really wanted to leapfrog what was already available and create a gluten-free brand that truly resonated with all consumers. Ann lives gluten-free herself, and they have both really worked hard to ensure their products embrace their ideas of “freedom plus”. The message is no longer, ‘have a brownie’, but ‘have a brownie others will be jealous of’.
“Their brand personality is defined by their understanding of their customers and the language they speak – their products are made in The Yummery and tested by the Guinea Pig Network of consumers. Our identity and packaging reflects the slightly irreverent PERK!ER tone without undermining the gluten-free credentials of the products.”
PERK!ER is also developing special-edition products for Whole Foods in the run up to Christmas, in store in October.
PERK!ER will be launching a range of porridges in November, and is currently on the hunt for further distribution opportunities.