BY Armin

Is that a Wink in your Plate, or are you just Happy to See Me?

Behind some of the most recognized grocery brands — Healthy Choice, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Hebrew National, Hunt’s, and Orville Redenbacher’s, to name 6 out of 40-plus of them — is one of the least recognized food manufactures: ConAgra Foods. Kraft and Procter & Gamble are probably the first that come to mind, but even those two don’t seem to have the amount of popular brands run by ConAgra Foods. And it’s this sense of lack of recognition that drove the impetus for a new identity as ConAgra Foods moves from being a behind-the-scenes holding company to a more public-facing operating company.

The new identity was created after research with multiple stakeholder groups, including customers, revealed lack of association between ConAgra Foods and its popular brands. The logo itself features a new, more contemporary color palette along with a ‘spoon in plate’ icon designed to reinforce the company’s position as a leading food company. The tagline, “Food you love” reinforces the individual company brands that consumers love.
— Press Release

Logo configurations.

The new icon is pretty cute and clever-ish. There are a number of things you can read into it: A wink, a fruit, a smile, a plate, a cyclops, etc. But the main point is that it is unique and memorable for them, specially in an industry that is downright serious with their logos… well, there is Kraft’s silliness of a logo. The typography is where things start to cross the line into weird territory, mainly with the leafy “r,” which I think is an unnecessary flourish that only adds some noise as the logo gets smaller. But, hey, at least for all you Gotham haters out there, it’s not Gotham. Or Avenir. The identity has been designed by Omaha, Nebraska based Bailey Lauerman.

All in all, this is a very nice redesign that signals a friendlier, more accessible company that is happy to join the public view and stand behind the products it makes. BrandWeek has a great interview with ConAgra Foods’ corporate communications vice-president Teresa Paulsen.

Thanks to Drew Davies for the tip and some additional sleuthing.

\n\nBehind some of the most recognized grocery brands — Healthy Choice, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Hebrew National, Hunt's, and Orville Redenbacher's, to name 6 out of 40-plus of them — is one of the least recognized food manufactures: ConAgra Foods. Kraft and Procter & Gamble are probably the first that come to mind, but even those two don't seem to have the amount of popular brands run by ConAgra Foods. And it's this sense of lack of recognition that drove the impetus for a new identity as ConAgra Foods moves from being a behind-the-scenes holding company to a more public-facing operating company.

Many thanks to our ADV @ UnderConsideration Partners