The heritage brand’s bold new packaging design is captivating a new generation of Passover hosts while honoring its rich traditions.

Boring, blah, and beige: Three words you never want to hear associated with your brand. But those words defined Manischewitz packaging design until its recent award-winning rebrand.

Legacy brands often rest on their laurels to their detriment. There is no doubt that Manischewitz is ubiquitous at the Seder table. But as grandmothers and great-grandmothers pass the torch to younger generations hosting their own Seders, packaging design also needs to evolve and appeal to those in their 30s and 40s. These are the same people drawn to brands like Magic Spoon cereal, Quite Nice oats, and Banza pasta, and they are repelled by tired packaging design that looks like it’s from the 1970s and 80s — and not in a vintage way. 

Manischewitz needed to expand its audience beyond Bubby’s Seder table and cultivate loyalty with this new generation hosting a Passover Seder. And, wow how they have succeeded with an inspired, award-winning rebrand that blends nostalgia and modern branding!

Let’s unpack this.

Jewish food is comfort food, but there’s nothing comforting about the beige dominating the Jewish and kosher category. Manischewitz’s new branding features a vibrant orange with accents of red, cream, and yellow. 

The new logo, inspired by Hebrew letters, has a light retro touch. Creative agency Jones Knowles Ritchie describes the rebrand as combining an affectionate “bubby” (Yiddish for “grandma” and what I called both of mine), an enthusiastic foodie, and a Jerry Seinfeld type.

What unites everything is the cast of illustrated characters frolicking across the packaging: carrying platters of cake, opening steaming pots of egg noodles, and hugging bowls of matzo ball soup. It’s as if they’ve created the family around the Seder table — the weird uncle, the kids helping grandma, the cousin who loves the soup. These characters are playful and perfectly capture the Passover spirit, adding nostalgia for adults and joy for children who will recognize their own families in the illustrations. Manischewitz proves that packaging design can be forward-thinking and still honor tradition.

Some areas of packaging design modernize, while others remain stuck. I hope that Manischewitz’s win will inspire other Jewish legacy brands to elevate their packaging design. The food is delicious, and it deserves packaging to match.