New Challenger Brand The Flavourists Partners with Elmwood to Create Visual Identity

Start-up brand The Flavourists will be shaking up UK supermarket aisles from this month with the next generation of plant-based meal kit innovation, created to tantalise the senses and inspire consumers to discover the joy of creative cooking.

The Flavourists was created by food industry experts, Kyrsten Halley, Mia Hartwell and Zoe Stroud. Leading global design consultancy, Elmwood, partnered with the brand to design its entire visual identity in just nine months – from creating the name to developing the visual language.

Elmwood and The Flavourists saw an opportunity to challenge the dominant narratives within the plant-based category. Two clear arguments have emerged to convince consumers to adopt this food, with competitors either talking about the meatiest non-meat or waving the worthy vegan lifestyle flag. The focus on the responsible qualities of the food has meant the joyful side of it has been largely ignored. Elmwood and The Flavourists wanted to bridge this tension, so instead of being ‘free-from’, the brand is ‘full of’: full of flavour, full of freshness, full of energy, full of excitement and full of inspiration.

The name, The Flavourists, perfectly captures this, deliberately welcoming and uniting consumers and the brand around a love of food and taste, rather than a reduction of meat. Similar principles were used for creating the brand mark. At its heart is an image of a pan, creating a visual snapshot of the moment of creative magic in the kitchen and celebrating the joy of cooking and eating. The flavourist letters being thrown into the air over the pan acts as a catalyst for ‘more’ – more flavour, more freshness and more satisfaction.

True foodie moments are also celebrated through the typography, playing on the sounds and sensations of cooking, and within the photography where fresh and vibrant plant-based food is being tossed upward from the pan.

Backed by a colour palette that picks from real, natural food goodness, The Flavourists is a brand that celebrates being joyful, expressive and above all else, foodie!

Kyrsten Halley, Creator of The Flavourists, comments: “The Flavourists mission is to break the rules of plant-based. We want to offer more than just functional plant-based swaps. Our mission is to bring colour, vibrancy, and positivity to a category with a traditionally negative lexicon. The visual identity that we created with Elmwood has brilliantly captured our passion for flavour and the joy of cooking. It reinvents the design language around this category, offering a far more positive and richer interpretation of the delicious potential of plant-based food.” 

Kyle Whybrow, Elmwood's Creative Director, who led the design project for The Flavourists, said: “Partnering with The Flavourists is one of the most inspiring end-to-end brand design projects we’ve worked on. In just nine months from the start of the project to launch, we were able to deliver an iconic visual identity that perfectly embodies The Flavourists’ inspirational approach to plant-based food and create a digital-first brand which can move effortlessly across all touchpoints.”

The Flavourists will be launching two ranges: Sizzle Kits, including Creamy Makhani Style Curry and Yellow Thai Style Curry; and Sizzle & Stir, including Sticky Teriyaki and Herby Green Pesto. All are tasty meals for two, ready in under 15 minutes, and available from Waitrose in-store and online from 6th April, Booths from 19th May and Ocado from the 30th of May.