Hellas Farms Pistachios

Agency: Mark Oliver, Inc.
Creative Director: Mark Oliver
Project Type: Produced, Commercial Work
Client: Hellas Farms LLC
Location: Solvang, CA USA
Packaging Contents: Pistachio nuts
Packaging Materials: Bags are constructed out of a metallised film structure with an excellent oxygen and moisture barrier. Matte finish.

How to build a Greek food brand.

Where do brands come from? Many have a rich legacy, others are created from scratch. Armed with the ambition to sell their Greek food products in the U.S. and a desire to win over the American consumer with superior flavors and quality, we were approached by a manufacturer to position, name, brand, and design packaging for their pistachio products.

According to the USDA, consumption of pistachio nuts is increasing due to their health benefits. Most grocery stores carry one or more brands of pistachios and the financial impact of the U.S. pistachio industry exceeds $1.5 billion.

But these pistachios were different; they were Greek. In the past decade the popularity and sales of Greek food products has exploded due to the attention focused on the healthful Mediterranean diet. There are no imported Greek Pistachios in the U.S. marketplace. Because the source of the product was Greece, it was a very clean product, and the intended market would be places like Whole Foods, it was obvious to position the product as a healthy imported Greek product.

Naming was the next step. Our solution, “Hellas Farms,” communicated the brand’s origins using the original name English-speaking people used for Greece. Next, we solidified the message with the tagline “The Flavors of Greece,” additionally identifying the origin while opening the door to other types of line extensions.

What’s Unique?
Using carefully selected iconography, images, colors, and fonts to evoke the “Greek” origination of the product, we created a design for mass-marketing Greek Pistachios which would appeal to consumers in the 25+ category, and stand out in the salty snack sector of grocery or at the checkout-stand. Made market-ready in 1.75 oz bags featuring a cluster of pistachios and the feature copy “handpicked & roasted, lightly brined with Greek sea salt,” Hellas Farms Greek Pistachios made their way across the Atlantic to the American consumer this past summer and is rolling out first on the east coast.