Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2018 round-up

Inspiration

Rich took part in a panel discussion on store design at this year’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair, so he took the opportunity to see what’s new when it comes to design trends in the high-end food sector. Here’s what he found.

Marble-effect packaging 

We were interested to see premium food brand, Epicure, use marble as a printed texture on its packaging – something that we think really works for the brand.

As a home decor and food styling trend, marble has been having a bit of a moment recently. As a material, white and paler marbles have the benefit of providing a relatively blank canvas, but still offer a little interest. And from a styling perspective, it tends to lend a premium feel to whatever it provides a backdrop to – perfect for Epicure.

Taste profiling olive oil

We like the use of these flavour webs / sensory webs, used by Italian olive oil brand PrimOli, to communicate the flavour intricacies of its range of regional olive oils to its customers. Whilst complex taste profiling is something that goes on behind the scenes across many food & drink categories, consumers are typically only given topline tasting notes – for example, on wine bottles and coffee packaging. It’s nice to see an olive oil brand take an approach that would more typically be expected in a third wave coffee shop.

Designer lollipops

We love TutuSpot Lollipops, which Rich found on the Beyond Living stand. In a wide range of shapes and vibrant, glossy colours, the Grand, Mini and Sport Pops bring a whole new approach to sugar confectionery.

The Instagram effect 

We like Nordic Honey’s use of square ‘postcards’ showing recipes that are available on its website. Given the popularity of Instagram – which, until recently, championed the square format above other photo formats  – it seems like a logical move for brands to go square when it comes to their print materials, especially recipe cards.

The Best of the Rest

There was loads of beautiful packaging design on show, such as that from Lindores Abbey and Seedlip, but our personal favourite was Fiovana. We love the distinctive summery, slightly vintage feel, which is perfect for a cordial brand.

Last but not least…

… (and nothing to do with design), our favourite food find was fried egg flavour crisps. And yes, Rich assures us they do taste just like fried eggs.

Share Insight

  • Euan Sey, Founder and Commercial Director, Curry Leaf Cafe

    “They’re an easy bunch to work with, have a great knowledge of the sector and give 110%.”

  • Ruth Timmins-Williams, Brand Experience Manager, Tesco

    “Working with Sherlock is always a pleasure, the ideas keep coming and the energy remains unphased...”

  • Dan Dixon, Sales Director, Exhibitions, William Reed Business Media

    “They were flexible, great to work with, and the result more than met our expectations.”

  • Nick Cooper, Founding Director of Crunchy Critters

    “The team’s extensive knowledge of the food & drink sector really shone through and they went above and beyond...”

  • Sam Hepworth, Head of Communications and Digital Media, Whizz-Kidz

    “Sherlock rose to the challenge and provided us with several initial concepts that were all so impressive that we struggled settling on just one.”

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