Case Study | Food and Beverage | Spice Brand
Food Brand Marketing
A family spice house since 1955, repackaged for the next generation and the next shelf
How the biggest cinnamon distributor in the world, a family company with a 70-year history, got ready for a generational hand-off: three brands brought into one system, new retail and food service packaging, product photography for an online store, websites for each brand, trade show and fleet graphics, brochures in two languages and the activations that helped the family win bigger distribution with Superior Grocers and other regional and big-box chains.
The Client
De Silva Brothers and Company
Founded in 1955, De Silva Brothers is an importer and distributor of cinnamon, spices, dried chiles, herbs and teas, and the biggest distributor of cinnamon in the world. The company sells through three brands: De Silva Brothers and Company, the heritage house; De Silva Spices, the retail line found at Superior Grocers and other regional grocery and big-box chains; and Grupo Canela, the cinnamon specialist and exporter. For decades the products sold on reputation and relationships. The packaging and the brand had not kept pace.
As the founders' children stepped into the business, we stepped in beside them. We built a shared identity system for the three brands, designed new retail bottle labels and food service packaging, photographed more than a hundred products for an online store, designed websites for each brand, produced bilingual brochures, a trade show backdrop and truck graphics, shot inside the stores of the retailers that carry the line, and supported the activations and buyer meetings that opened the door to larger distribution. The company remains a leader in its category and still calls us when it needs us.
Services
By the Numbers
Objectives and Approach
Honor the History. Win the Shelf.
A buyer at a regional grocer or a big-box chain decides in seconds whether a product belongs on the shelf. The spices were already world class. The job was to make the packaging, the catalog and the company presentation say so, while giving the next generation a brand they could grow.
One System, Three Brands
The heritage house, the retail spice line and the cinnamon exporter each kept their own mark, with shared typography, color logic and a "since 1955" story across all three.
Packaging That Sells
A retail bottle label line with a consistent front and a clean back panel, food service labels for large formats, and print-ready masks so every new SKU drops into the system.
Catalog and Web
Product photography for more than a hundred items, and website designs for each brand built around that catalog, so buyers and consumers could finally see the full range.
Show Up Everywhere
Trade show backdrop and side panels, truck graphics, bilingual brochures, magnets and business cards, in-store photography at retail partners, and support for activations and buyer meetings as the family pursued larger distribution.
Services Marketed
Every Category in the Warehouse
Each product family got its own catalog section and its own photography style, so a buyer could find what they needed and a home cook could browse.
Brand System
Three Marks, One Family
The lion crest for the cinnamon house, the ship for the heritage company, the sombrero mark for the retail spice line, carried across magnets, labels, brochures and trucks.
Packaging
From the Bundle to the Bottle
Retail bottle labels with a consistent front and a clean back panel, food service labels for large formats, and the cinnamon bundles that built the company, photographed in the warehouse.
Product Photography
A Catalog You Can Taste
More than a hundred products shot on consistent surfaces for the online store and the brand websites, from ground cinnamon to rose petals.
Websites
A Site for Each Brand
Home, product and blog page designs for the heritage company, the retail spice line and the cinnamon house, all built around the new catalog photography.
Print, Trade Show and Fleet
In the Aisle, at the Show, on the Road
Bilingual tri-fold brochures for buyers, a trade show backdrop and side panel, truck graphics and the delivery fleet, all in the same system.
Social
The Story in Fifteen Seconds
A short social video introducing the cinnamon house and its certifications to buyers and consumers.
What We Managed
A Brand Department for a Family Importer
Impact Summary
A Legacy Brand, Ready for Its Next Generation
A 70-year family company with packaging and presentation that finally match the quality inside the bottle, a catalog buyers can browse, three brands that work as one, and a seat at the table with larger distributors like Superior Grocers. The company is still a leader in its category, and we are still the team it calls.
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