Coles World Flavours

Agency: Elmwood Melbourne
Creative Directors: Paul Greskie, Biank Voight
Designer: Lauren Hawking
Illustrators: Andy Smith, Ania Drozd
Typography: Andy Smith
Location: Australia
Project Type: Produced
Client: Coles
Product Launch Location: Australia
Packaging Contents: Mexican & Italian Products
Packaging Substrate / Materials: Glass jar, Tin, Bag

Coles World Flavours
We helped supermarket shoppers imagine themselves smack-bang in the middle of the world’s most vibrant food streets.

Inspired flavors
As strategic brand partner to Coles, one of Australia’s largest supermarket chains, Elmwood undertook the huge task of redefining the retailer’s own brand architecture. In the process, we identified an opportunity to create a range of global food products with more authentic flavours and recipes.

In a category cluttered with uninspiring, generic own brands or high end ‘artisan’ offerings, we saw a gap in the market for something that is both authentic but equally approachable for home cooks—made from authentic recipes. In collaboration with Coles, we developed and designed a new range of authentic ‘World Flavours’.

Our search for inspiration took us “on the streets” of the world’s great food cities. We landed on our lead creative territory, which felt fresh, authentic and flexible enough to include foods from a host of regions and countries in the future.

On The Streets
Our team was inspired by street food around world and the vibrant laneways it’s often found in. All the sights, the sounds and of course, mouth-watering aromas. We aimed to capture the vibrancy of street food culture in these great food regions.

In the process, nothing was missed by our keen-eyed designers: Wall textures inspired by local buildings, typography from market stall signs, authentic language, iconic patterns and colours, even the shadows created by sundrenched street furniture.

It was all designed to spark the senses and help shoppers imagine themselves on a bustling street filled with delicious treats.

A world of sensory inspiration
To help with shopper navigation, we developed a unique design strategy for each country, which stemmed from our overarching creative territory.

For our Mexican range, we replicated vibrant hand painted signage found everywhere on the streets of Mexico. To achieve this typographic treatment, we commissioned award-winning designer Andy Smith renowned for a typography style that feels tactile and hand-printed. Our Italian range was inspired by the sun-soaked cobblestoned streets scattered all along Italy’s coast. We also drew inspiration from rustic, hand-painted majolicas from the Renaissance period, which we modernised and incorporated into our designs.

By taking our designs “on the streets”, we helped shoppers evoke a sense of discovery. Because it’s often on these streets where we uncover the best flavours, and where all levels of society come together—united in their love of food.