Scratch Meals Packaging Design
Ingredients are easy to come by, but for those of us without a natural impulse to cook … it can be a bit more challenging to figure out how we should put them together to make a real meal. Not anymore: this cool and convenient eating idea blends the best aspects of frozen food dinner (for folks who like things fast and easy) and the experience of having an actual fresh-made main course for supper.
A good graphic and product designer like Jeremy Innes-Hopkins knows that achieving simplicity can be remarkably complex. As much a cooking concept as a compelling product design, ‘Scratch’ provides people with an easy-to-prepare set of ready-made pieces that come together as a whole healthy entree in somewhat simpler form – all for sale from local grocery stores that hand-pack the products inside.
So what do you do when you want to communicate a clear idea? Use clear packaging (as well as basic fonts and legible colors, of course). Branded around ideas of simple, sustainable, fresh and direct produce and meat, the design solution is quite simple: brown paper-bag-style labels with bold print wrapped around clear containers that let you see what you are getting before you buy it.
Sustainably sourced from local food producers, this may not be quite as eco-friendly as the packaging-free stores popping up in various hip urban neighborhoods. Still, chopped, washed and weighed by hand without all of the shipping and such, the idea is a step forward – and is definitely a good deal greener than the way over-packaged and globally-transported frozen-food alternatives.
“Scratch meals is a London based food business that provides a healthy alternative to the ready meal. Scratch Meals sell 1 pack with all the fresh ingredients and instructions to cook a healthy meal. I’ve worked with Scratch since I was a student and they were just starting out in Whitecross Street market. Here you will find some of the creative work I’ve done for them over the years, including there first packaging design that was sold in supermarkets across the country.”
“Scratch needed some packaging that would communicate the concept and the brand to new consumers. Packaging design features a transparent RPET tray which allows the consumer to see the fresh ingredients within. A kraft sleeve is wrapped around the tray with meal description, brand identity and cooking instructions on the reverse. Since their launch 3 years ago, Scratch Meals are now sold in Waitrose, Ocado and Sainsburys across the UK.”
