Biomass is one of those truly inspiring success stories. What started off as growing produce on a family farm in Batroun, northern Lebanon, for personal consumption is today the country’s biggest, most diverse and most widespread fully certified organic foods brand, boasting a network of over 40 farmers spread across Lebanon. The drive was simple and honest: if we can eat better, why not everyone else. And this is precisely what our work for Biomass helped do: move the organic offering away from being niche and difficult to find to being a more standard and mainstream household ingredient. Through a rebranding exercise, packaging development and communication work, the Biomass brand solidified its status as the champion of organic farming, and the main source for organic products in Lebanon that are no longer limited neither in availability nor range.
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Biomass-Logo
The Biomass logo makes a clear connection between “bio”, meaning organic in French – a common appellation in Lebanon – and the heart graphic which carries both emotional and health-driven meanings.
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Biomass-All packages
From fresh to dry to processed, the Biomass product lines come close to a fully organic pantry.
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Biomass-Close ups
What you see is what you get
Honestly showcasing the product is a Biomass must.
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Biomass-Bag, box, jar
Look this way, talk this way
Visual and verbal elements unify the material and container-varied product lines.
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Biomass-Supermarket display 01
The organic supermarket corner is basically a Biomass corner: a testimony to the leadership status of the brand.
In 2012, amid a growing popularity of organic foods, Biomass had established a certain presence in the Lebanese market and was beginning to be recognized for some items within its relatively small range of products. It was at that time that Biomass – already a kind of leader – was looking to seriously expand its offering and become the main Lebanese organic brand. That’s where we came in. The rebranding began with readdressing the logo in a way that clarifies its naming logic, and then moved to revisiting some of the packaging lines, developing new ones and establishing a communication style with an informative and friendly tone of voice – a key to the perception of the brand as principled, honest and non-alienating.
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Biomass-Logo before and after
Other than its somewhat expected symbolism, the previous Biomass logo suffered from production limitations due to the emblem’s treatment and did not clearly carry the “organic” idea in its basic name. The redesigned mark addresses all that and carries a softer, more familiar, expression.
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Biomass-Handwritten type
Hand-drawn typography and a simple net pattern complete Biomass’s visual language.
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Biomass-Supermarket display 02
The Biomass logo allows for the “bio” element to be used as a token for “organic”, expressing the brand as well as the category, and effectively owning it in the process.
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Biomass-Veg box before and after
The previous Biomass fresh fruit and vegetable packs were more or less retained, but were subjected to a slight but significant form adjustment (see Packaging section for details).
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Biomass-Egg box before and after
The previous Biomass half-dozen egg pack worked pretty well and needed nothing more than a new identity treatment, as well as a dozen-egg partner.
The ever growing range of Biomass products fully abides by European regulations for organic farming and includes free range chicken and eggs, grains and pulses, fresh and dried herbs, fruits and vegetables, olive oil and a selection of dairy products and preserves. This variety required a diversification of packaging containers, materials and configurations, designed consistently following Biomass’s brand identity visual language while allowing for enough differentiation per product line. The packaging design solutions take visual as well as practical matters into consideration such as display, storage and economical production.
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Biomass-Veg boxes animated
The Biomass fresh fruit and vegetable packs are designed for maximum visibility when piled on a shelf.
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Biomass-Veg box die-cut
The slight shift in the box die-cut allows for clear product and brand visibility whether laying or standing – a way to accommodate different supermarket shelving space.
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Biomass-Bags
The bagged products from biomass have a generic package with differentiating stickers and a clear exposure of contents.
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Biomass-At home
At home, the completely transparent strip on the bags becomes a cue for “need to go shopping”.
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Biomass-Jars
The single color Biomass jars use every bit of the container surface for a fully bilingual set of information.
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Biomass-Dairy
Following product color conventions, the Biomass dairy line is the only one to diverge from the green and white color scheme.
The objectives behind Biomass’s communication strategy are the following: maintain and build on the perception of Biomass as the leading grower and supplier of organic produce in Lebanon, position the brand as a provider of an expansive and expanding range of organic products, and widen the target audience by increasing interest in organic food. Tactically, these objectives were achieved by strengthening the brand through dedicated stands and corners at supermarkets, enhancing its presence in food-related events, cross-selling products on packaging, providing information to the public about the health and taste benefits of organic produce, and telling the inspiring story behind the Biomass family business. Using multiple channels and scales – from little packaging “talkies” to fully branded organic corners – the brand voices out what it’s all about.
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Biomass-Talkies
All Biomass packages will introduce you to some other member of the Biomass family, benefitting from the popularity of some products to draw attention to others.
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Biomass-Supermarket display 03
The Biomass organic supermarket corner became a reliable destination for keen organic consumers, wide with choice and variety, and capable of drawing in new members to the club.
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Biomass-Horeca stand
The Biomass stand in the HORECA 2013 fair establishes the brand’s unmistakable authority as Lebanon’s main farmer and supplier of organic produce.
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Biomass-Newsletter and kale bag
Communication on the benefits of organic food, as well as products growing in popularity, furthers from the reach and influence of the Biomass brand.
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Biomass-Website
The Biomass web page sums up the brand values and tells the gripping story of the family farm that became Lebanon’s main organic producer.
