Title	LITTLE DISH POTS AND PIES
Brand	LITTLE DISH
Product/Service	LITTLE DISH POTS AND PIES
Category	E01. Food
Entrant	PEARLFISHER London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation	PEARLFISHER London, UNITED KINGDOM
PR	PEARLFISHER London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Jonathan Ford	Pearlfisher	Founding Partner & CEO
Darren Foley	Pearlfisher	Managing Director
Jack Hart	Pearlfisher	Strategic Business Director
Fiona John	Pearlfisher	Design Director
Mike Beauchamp	Pearlfisher	3D Design Director
Jenny Cairns	Pearlfisher	Senior Technical Project Manager
Jo Chekroun	Pearlfisher	Client Director
Lucy Moss	Pearlfisher	Client Manager

The Campaign

The challenge we faced was to better connect parents to the brand’s mission of ‘feeding healthy kids’ by positioning Little Dish meals as fresh and convenient alternatives to the long-life trays in the Baby Aisle. The creative idea behind our solution took in inspiration from ranges of colourfully-enamelled cookware - homely, authentic and evocative of the wholesome food cooked in the kitchen. The creative metaphor from which we developed the strategy was 'Proper food from the kitchen cupboard': we wanted to create a reassuringly eclectic mix of products that felt diverse (through the use of colour, shape and size variation) but held together well as range.

Creative Execution

The project pushed the envelope in terms of technical execution. Bespoke forms give the products homelier feeling in-hand, while the colours (custom-made to ensure they didn’t clash with the food inside) remove the unhealthy connotations of a black tray and assist with range navigation on-shelf. Carefull considered structural details - fluting, ripples in the wall, a twin finish (matte on the outside, gloss on the inner), handles with embossed logos and a mash ledge (which ensures that the food is always low enough below the film to be beautifully presentable) – were designed to elevate the customer experience and add a premium touch. The card sleeve talks to both parents and kids: a deli-style sticker on the side of pack helps parents navigate stacked meals on-shelf, leaving the entire top face for kids to see Mabel the Cow skipping with a spaghetti string or Charlie the Chicken juggling butternut squashes.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The products have only been in the market for a month but Little Dish has already seen sales exceed expectations. Hillary Graves, Little Dish Founder, said of the redesign: “This structural packaging is category-defining. The agency has brilliantly captured the spirit of the Little Dish brand, celebrated our nutritional credentials and repositioned our meals to parents looking for healthy and convenient meals for their little ones.”

Adopting a new approach to segmentation, we defined creative principles across six key equities: colour, texture, labelling, graphics, the role of form and the family of ‘Zoo Crew’ characters. Used to differentiate the product types (pots, pies, etc), colour was used to create standout colour blocking effect on shelf as well as an eclecticism in Mum's basket. Texture was used to add warmth and depth by bringing taste credentials and authenticity to life, while form was positioned at the heart of the consumer experience in a move from trays to structures that echo the shapes, details and visual intrigue of a kitchen cupboard. The 'zoo crew' was given fresh reason to be on pack by representing key product elements (i.e. proteins), while the label was revisited to reinforce consistency of visual narrative. Finally, graphic treatment was used to compliment the strengths and resolve the weaknesses of the chosen structures.