Check out our new Name, Love + Chew, as well as our new look! Why did I decide to pursue so much change as we close out 2020?
As COVID-19 spread through the United States last March, it forced myself as well as many small business owners to rethink our go-to market strategies. There was a particularly stressful moment when I had 3 pallets of cookies en route for Uber’s corporate cafeterias and they had to be redirected back to our fulfillment center, since offices were now closed. In short, the cookies had no home. Don’t worry, this story has a good ending and we ended up partnering with Misfits Market to distribute the excess cookies.
The point is, I had relied on sales channels that no longer existed anymore - corporate cafeterias, conferences, airports, etc. and I had to pivot to survive. Hence, a packaging refresh to help achieve this goal.
My intentions were threefold:
1. Create a brighter, more attractive brand that jumps out at customers on retail & digital shelves.While I initially was planning to hold on pursuing retail as well as direct-to-consumer, COVID-19 changed this strategy. I now needed packaging that was easy to read, bold & bright, and communicated to the customer exactly what the product is inside. I’d love to hear your opinion on this!
2. Create a platform and name where I could launch multiple types of products. I changed our name not only because of my last name, but also because the brand identity is easy to understand and spell, and provides a positive connotation. My long-term goal is to create a sustainable company that launches many different products in various categories, and become a leader in plant-based desserts.
3.
Use more sustainable packaging. We partnered with Belmark to use their
Tru-Impact sustainable packaging. Anyone who knows me and my background (I worked in solar + energy storage for 5+ years before starting Love + Chew) knows that I’m super passionate about preserving our environment. For my products, I also needed to preserve shelf life (this is necessary for distribution) and searched high & low for a compostable option in flexible packaging. Many entrepreneurs in the space are looking for a similar solution, but unfortunately it does not exist at this point. I felt using Belmark’s Tru-Impact film was a good middle ground - it uses 30% post-consumer recycled content (PCR) and as demand grows this will grow to 50-60%. Our new boxes are also made out of 100% recycled paper. This wasn’t my ideal solution, but I believe a step in the right direction.
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