What Works for Direct-to-Consumer Packaging Doesn’t Always Work on the Shelf

What happens when a popular online brand wants to break into mainstream supermarkets? The packaging must change. Two case studies show how.

The CEO of Wildfare spelled it out for me: “Our products are not selling, and we don’t know why. Can you help us?”

The problem? Wildfare packaging was designed for direct-to-consumer (DTC), but it wasn’t working at retail. The product was premium, but the packaging was uninspired and, in some cases, unattractive.

It’s one thing to promote a brand on a website, an Amazon storefront, or social media. But it’s another when the package is sitting directly next to its competitors in a crowded category.

For instance, Wildfare sold organic sulfate-free apricots. It could promote that benefit online without ever showing the package. It’s a different story on a store shelf because their packaging had a window that let customers see these premium apricots. Problem? Organic, sulfate-free apricots are not attractive: They’re wrinkly, dark brown, and not very appetizing. When shoppers scanned the shelves, they didn’t see a sulfate-free product that tastes better and is better for you. They saw an ugly lump of brown apricots and kept scanning.

Wildfare’s jars of olives had a similar issue. Its flagship olive oil was less offensive but no less uninspired.

My challenge with Wildfare was to transform packaging that felt generic and ho-hum into a distinctive brand that stood out on the grocery-store shelf.

First, we leaned into the brand’s Mediterranean roots. The logo evolved from a logotype that appealed to 20-somethings into a mark that was both a sun and a flower, inspired by Mediterranean mosaics.
We reworked the typography into something more classic by pairing Surveyor, inspired by ancient Mediterranean maps, with the highly readable Whitney.
A new Mediterranean color palette in blues, deep eggplant purple, and sunrise-to-sunset hues was used to reinforce the Mediterranean origin.
Most importantly for the packaging, fresh fruit imagery replaced the unappealing dried fruit visible through the original pouches.
Reworking the packaging hierarchy, the new sun icon was front and center, making any stock-keeping unit (SKU) unmistakably Wildfare, regardless of the category, and helping Wildfare gain market share.
To achieve a premium look and feel, we manufactured labels on metallic film. We used opaque white with matte and gloss finishes to create a sophisticated shimmer and texture that justified its premium-tier pricing.

Better branding and shelf appeal

Wildfare’s situation is not an isolated one. Surreal had a similar challenge, but from an entirely different angle. Its high-protein cereal was a wildly successful DTC brand. Super fans ordered the cereal because they wanted a high-protein option.

EarthlingStudio took on the Surreal redesign. Its challenge was to maintain the quirky brand personality that fans love, while making the packaging clearer, more shelf-friendly, and better suited to grocery-store shoppers.

*Photo from Earthling Studio, Design by Earthling Studio*

The logo was moved from the right side of the pack to the left and redrawn with white letters on a black outline to improve visibility and create a subtle “milk” nod.
The messaging hierarchy was improved, with the “high protein, low sugar” claim more prominent and new flavor visuals that put taste front and center.
The color palette was tweaked across the range for better shelf distinction, and the typography was refined for legibility in a busy retail setting.
The back-of-pack copy retained the playful, adult-humor tone, keeping the brand voice alive.

Surreal and Wildfare approached this challenge from different directions but reached the same conclusion: Their packaging needed to work harder on the grocery-store shelf.

Whether you’re taking a successful DTC brand like Surreal into retail or repositioning a premium brand like Wildfare, what works online doesn’t necessarily work for grocery-store shoppers.