<strong>Organic vegetables break category norms though the use of a stand-up pouch and fun and colorful graphics that stand out from the gritty, natural palettes traditionally used.</strong>
A new line of organic beans is breaking through the “sea of sameness” in the organic shelf-stable vegetables category through the use of a stand-up pouch decorated with fresh and fun illustrations. The five varieties of beans in pouches were launched by startup company Green Valley Foods, LLC out of Salem, OR, in October 2015 along with four canned bean varieties, one canned pumpkin product, and three canned seasonal vegetables—all with the same lively graphics.

“Green Valley wanted to create packaging that disrupted the aisle, but also captured a younger, health-conscious audience: the adventurous, better-for-you Millennial Mom,” says Pete Chieffo, Associate Creative Director for CBX, the firm responsible for designing the package graphics. “The canned category relied on a gritty, natural palette of earth tones and farm cues. While these cue the natural organic aspect shoppers are looking for, there wasn’t anything that spoke to our target’s desire to make food fun and creative for her family.”

Through research involving both East and West Coast Millennial Moms, Green Valley and CBX learned that organics had changed over the past several years, “with Millennials expecting their organic brands to match their optimistic and adventurous lifestyle, rather than traditional organic category cues,” says Chieffo.

Adds CBX CEO and Managing Partner Gregg S. Lipman, “We saw that there was an opportunity here for something innovative and differentiated. The ‘classic’ organic cues were no longer on the menu. We were on a mission to create a vibrant, playful, honest offering that would spark optimism and creativity, catering to today’s busy but conscious consumers.”

The first and greatest differentiator is the use of a 15.5-oz stand-up pouch with a tear notch at the top for some of the beans. Graphics for the pouches and cans include illustrations of a green valley, vibrant veggies, and purple mountains, topped by a yellow sun orb, along with simple typography. “We wanted the fonts to feel hand-drawn with character, right from the farmer’s hand,” Chieffo says. “The depiction of the beans and veggies was a take on ‘farm to table,’ with a modern edge, elevating the product with a top-down shot.” The back of the packages contain recipes.

According to Lipman, social media results indicate a great interest in Green Valley’s organic products, with 40,000 likes on Facebook as of early January 2016.

Originally published in <a href="http://www.packworld.com/package-design/rigid-flexible/bean-pouches-present-new-take-organics" target="_blank">Packaging World</a>