Pragma Reviews Duchy Originals
16th April 2009
History
Duchy Originals was launched in 1990 by Prince of Wales, after he had converted his Home Farm in Gloucestershire to organic production. In 1992, the first Duchy product, the Oaten biscuit, was launched and there are now over 200 Duchy products.
The range includes biscuits, seeds, preserves, desserts, drinks, condiments, soups and bodycare products. The new biscuit ranges will be the first to include the new packaging and these include flavours such as Organic Hazelnut & Cranberry and Organic Sweet Oaten & Heather Honey.
The new packaging is the first redesign since the Prince of Wales created the firm and will be rolled out to all Duchy Originals ranges by the end of the year.
Graphics 8/10
The old (and for many products, existing) packaging is strong in itself, but the new packaging, which features an image depicting a wood etching of the Duchy Home Farm, manages to reinforce the firm's origin and philosophy. The new packaging also gives greater prominence to the ingredients and provenance of the products.
This is not a radical repackaging but an updating that keeps the Duchy `look' very recognisable. The colours are now darker and the black column and gold branding on the front of the packaging gives it an even stronger quality association. My only quibble is that it does have some similarity to Green & Blacks chocolate.
The Duchy `Good Food' charter on the reverse is an effective way to reinforce the natural ingredients of the products.
Function 8/10
The function is no different from before. The pack is easy to open from the top and the biscuits are kept in two separate sellophane wrappers to keep them fresh.
On-shelf 8/10
Although the packaging is now darker this does not lessen the shelf presence of the products, and it succeeds in making the products more different from their competitors. They are however, still very recognisable and anyone familiar with Duchy can easily identify them.
Overall 8/10
This is an effective makeover, retaining the essential Duchy look but enhancing the core values of the brand and enhancing their points of difference.