Packaging design for es im-perfect®, a brand that fights food waste

A project that raises awareness & promotes better consumption habits within society

Through their volunteering manual harvesters, and teaming up with collaborating producers and companies, this non-profit collects unattractive and imperfect fruits and vegetables which cannot otherwise be commercialised due to a merely aesthetic reason. It also collects produce that comes from surpluses of companies, producers and other businesses, providing it with a second opportunity. This produce is then channelled over to social organisations or is transformed into es im-perfect® products.

At their new workshop, located in El Prat de Llobregat, a new opportunity is given to this unattractive produce by turning fruit into jams and veggies into natural crafty patés, to be later sold under the brand es im-perfect®, a brand which, besides, is endorsed by chef Ada Parellada. Furthermore, people at risk of social exclusion are also invited to participate in their transformation process.

The Espigoladors Foundation also works to raise awareness through workshops and activities (harvesting actions i.e. “espigoladas”) intended for children, teenagers, adults and businesses, in which a healthy lifestyle is encouraged through changes in our food consumption habits.

Creating POS display boxes under the concept of second chances

Our first project with Espigoladors consisted in creating their first es im-perfect® product display case for points of sale. With this pretext, we took on the first branding conceptualisation phase by developing the storytelling and establishing a communication style, which they continue to use today.

The main objective was to attract the attention of consumers at points of sale, which are often saturated with thousands of items. We used very direct copywriting, appealing to the caring and emotional side of consumers, to invite them to purchase the products. Following this first contact, we would explain the project by providing all the necessary information.

The design of the display box and its communication revolved around second opportunities of fruits, veggies and also the people who work at the foundation. To help visualise this concept, we chose to recycle strawberry boxes, which had already been used, to turn them into display boxes.

Packaging Design and branding for es im-perfect® and Brand Identity redesign for Espigoladors

After this first experience, we continued collaborating with Espigoladors and its trademark es im-perfect® for 4 years. We carried on designing packaging and developing communication using concepts with significant social values and impact, both in marketing campaigns and in campaigns alongside all kinds of private companies (Christmas gifts, personalised packs, preservation recipe books, etc.)

But it is during the past year that we carried out the most important intervention to help the foundation communicate its products: we redesigned the logo, in line with the corporate identity that we had initially created for their trademark es im-perfect®.

In both cases, we chose a typeface with simple lines while, chromatically, we suggested the colour black as a representation of the gourmet sector. For the brand identity of Espigoladors, we opted to continue with a slightly updated illustration of the harvesters, which had accompanied the brand and represented it since the beginning.

In the case of es im-perfect®, we strengthened the identity by designing a new graphic element: an irregular element that modifies its shape according to the support where it is applied to, emphasising the concept of imperfection, around which we have structured all the brand’s communication.

Furthermore, this new element also refers to the diverse shapes of defective fruits and vegetables, which in turn constitute the raw materials for es im-perfect® products.

The new identity was subsequently applied to packaging and communication elements of es im-perfect® paté and jams. In addition, we developed brand new signage for their new El Prat workshop, created their corporate presentation –which constitutes a key piece in its communication– for which we defined the structure, drafted the contents and carried out art direction and design.

The reality that drives the project: 40% of fruits and vegetables go to waste.

Currently, 40% of all the fruits and vegetables that are being produced end up in the garbage, the largest waste (17%) being mainly generated in homes, while 16% of it is generated during the production process, 5% in the hospitality & catering sectors and, finally, 2% during distribution and in points of sale.

Faced with this scenario, while people at risk of exclusion have often no other choice but to recover food from trash containers –plenty of which being discarded for a merely aesthetic reason but perfectly suitable for human consumption– three entrepreneurs, including Mireia Barba, took on the challenge to be part of the solution and created the solidarity initiative Espigoladors. In 2014, their project was one among 20 others to be chosen during the third edition of the Social Entrepreneurship Program of La Caixa Foundation.

Chef Ada Parellada then joined the project. While she is part of the advisory committee of the foundation, promoting the reuse of food from her restaurant Semproniana, located in the center of the Eixample district of Barcelona, she subsequently signed an agreement with the Parc Agrari del Baix Llobregat where most of the produce harvesting is carried out.

Since then, the foundation’s actions have continued reverting in society:

540 awareness campaigns hash-tagged #yonotiro

76 collaborating producers and companies

518 tons of recovered food

124 tons of avoided CO2 emissions

319 million litres of water saved

1.572.736 million portions of food served

We collaborate in a social project, recognised for raising awareness and promoting a sustainable economy

In 2018, the Espigoladors Foundation received the Premi Medi Ambient of the Generalitat de Catalunya for standardising the old practice of harvesting (espigolar) amongst all producers while consolidating a network of harvesters that deliver a large part of the collected produce to social organisations, and allocate the rest to elaborate a product, later sold under the brand es im-perfect®. This award annually recognises the importance of projects which promote a sustainable economy and the modernisation of society.

n addition, the foundation itself has created its own campaign called #Don’t throw food away, a contest awarding ideas and illustrated stories against food waste, aimed at children and young teenagers aged 6 to 17 years, that is promoted in schools and high schools.

We will continue helping the Espigoladors Foundation building communication for its social endeavours because at NOMON DESIGN we equally share the values ​​and purpose of second opportunities.