Neworld, Great relationships build great brands

Our obsession with coffee continues!

A veritable plethora of coffee shops have opened here in Dublin in the past 5 years. Dublin has now over 50 Starbucks alone, while the chain in Ireland has more per head of population than anywhere else in Europe. Add to this an increasing number of mono-named, contemporary/hipster brew-houses staffed only by people who, as I understand, are blessed with reassuringly self-assured creative aloofness when sharing the art of making coffee. Therefore, it appears pretty evident that our desire for a caffeine hit or 2 or 3 seems to grow by the day.

Here, there, everywhere

An example of this popularity is close to hand. From our offices here in Harold’s Cross, there are 8 different coffee establishments all within a short walk. With the now seemingly ubiquitous nature of coffee houses, our tastes have also evolved, becoming ever more choosy in terms of our brew. From Double Machiattos to Caramel Flat Whites gently acquiesced with Dolphins Tears, we have become more sophisticated in our choices (okay, maybe not the Dolphin thing, but you know what I mean). There seems to be an appetite, nay expectancy to try new flavours (see a 3FE menu for instance) with the typical coffee lovers palette becoming more nuanced and educated.

As an admirer of a (debatably) hefty caffeine behemoth myself, the choices on the supermarket shelf from ground to bean are of special interest. It is notable then that many coffee brands seem to follow the same old tried and tested packaging formats and colour.

Same old same old

The glossy black pouch used in so many instances infer that all the coffees contained are a bit, well, ‘meh’. There is, of course, a logistical pragmatism allied to this in using a foil bag to contain product and to that argument, I defer. It’s just that this ‘sameness’ is now becoming a little tiresome and would appear to contradict what a coffee lover really wants from their pack.

So it is welcoming when pack formats and colour show a little invention and creativity which in turn sets them apart from the herd (yes, herd is the collective term for coffee pouches. Look it up). Clever uses of substrates and pack shapes and thoughtful use of materials are all embellishments that can enhance packaging on shelf, as per the examples below:

A variety of packs using differing formats from Rio Coffee

Union’s smart range appear handcrafted with copper accents

Sean Deignan, Senior Production Artist

Sean is a Senior Production Artist at Neworld. He is responsible for the handling of major brand name projects from brief to final production, and for taking design concepts and working them to fully finished packaging and literature ready for print. He has worked with a variety of brands including Barry’s Tea, Glenisk, Arrabawn, The Jelly Bean Factory and Irish Pride