The brand growth story of the year

Ambitious yet achievable goals. The vast majority of Finns value domestically produced food for its quality and purity. However, many are reluctant to pay more for domestic products. The Kotimaista brand is targeted at the “Finnish food lover” in all of us, and thanks to its affordability, everyone can now buy them. In the beginning of the project, clear objectives were pointed out.

Clear design system enables flexibility. The cornerstones of the design concept are blue as the main colour, delicious images, fun illustrations, clear product naming and custom typography. The hierarchy between these is built to be flexible in a way that suits each category.

Each product recognisably represents the Kotimaista brand without compromising its category. The design concept was made to fit the commonly used packaging formats in order to keep the price low. Blue was used as the main colour in order to achieve recognisability in different categories and make shopping easier. Blue also communicates Finnish identity and increases the feeling of quality.

Desirability was improved with portion images and illustrations, aiming to make even affordable domestic food look delicious. Several creative solutions within the concept deviate from conventions, giving the impression of high quality despite the low price, thus withstanding examination all the way to the table.

Becoming the top private label brand. According to a 2020 study about private label grocery brands, Kotimaista brand awareness has increased from 69% to 94% in the span of 12 months, taking the number three spot in the market.

Additionally, the usage rate increased from 54% to 86% in two years. The same study also ranked Kotimaista first in price, product info and perception as a domestic brand, and second in taste and quality, where it had previously performed poorly. Overall brand perception has risen drastically compared with the previous survey, as the top spot is now taken by Kotimaista (8.25), leaving Pirkka in second place (8.04). Today, consumers are most likely to recommend Kotimaista when it comes to private label grocery brands.