IGA Grocery Proprietary Packaging Re-Brand

Although many people have heard of IGA, few really

understand what it is and why it’s such an important part of the grocery economy. IGA is the Independent Grocers Alliance, a group dedicated to supporting and sustaining independent grocers around the world. Since 1926, IGA has been supplying independent grocers with resources to remain competitive amidst the rise of large chains like Publix, Whole Foods and Kroger.

Chief among these resources is the IGA Exclusive Brand of products. Sold exclusively at IGA stores, the IGA brand of products includes everything from cheese and bread to ice cream and frozen vegetables. Behind the IGA label is a dedication to quality and a promise to buy products from local and regional family farms wherever possible. This commitment to fresh, local and quality food has long gone unacknowledged by IGA shoppers and store owners, primarily because of the label design.

In 2017, IGA began searching for a partner to help them re-design the packaging for their exclusive label. A new CEO with a bold vision for the future meant that IGA was ready for a big change on the shelf. Competing against agencies from across the U.S., Porchlight won the business despite having little experience with grocery packaging. Instead, we focused on our brand experience, using design to tell a story, establish personality and grow loyalty.

Porchlight drew on our experience with other national brands to develop a concept for the new label, one that concentrated on IGA’s history of providing local, fresh groceries to towns across the U.S. As such, a priority for the design was to elevate IGA from an economy label to a trusted private brand. We focused our designs on beautiful food photography, farm-inspired glyphs and a clean color palette. Meanwhile, we reworked the IGA farm illustration and housed it in a new seal, giving prominence to the farm and anchoring it within the brand heritage.

Looking back, our team has learned a lot from this re-design. The hurdles we faced were largely overcome early in the process as we developed the brand, evolving it to fit everything from jars of cherries to hot dog buns, simplifying it to achieve consistency no matter the substrate or print process. Of course, we’ve grown in the process as well. We’re no longer mere grocery shoppers, we’re grocery crawlers, admiring and critiquing our way through the aisles of our favorite stores and loving it.