14 packaging ideas for your probiotic softs, kombuchas and sodas
Kombucha, kefir, probiotic soda, fermented drinks and other low-sugar soft drinks are all the rage with today's consumers. Having a beautiful visual, design or packaging is one thing, but we can't stress this enough: visuals don't make a brand, and a brand doesn't become remarkable on looks alone.
Many people forget about copywriting, communication through words, tone, personality, values and the essence of a brand. These are all aspects that will make your beverage brand a success. Now that we've clarified these strategic points, it's time for some fun and visual orgasm! Here are a few ideas for packaging your softs, kombuchas, fermented drinks and probiotic sodas.
We hope these designs can inspire you in your projects and give you creative pointers in developing your brand expression. If you'd like to couple reading this article with some targeted podcasts, we've got some fermented beverage-related episodes of SuperPotion™ just below! Enjoy 🥤
Club Kombucha makes it easy: «Drinkable kombucha. Like beer in a can, but it's kombucha». This Canadian brand unites people, right from the naming of their brand soberly entitled Club. They bring consumers into a curious, open world. A world filled with individuals who take responsibility for their choices and seek a virtuous beverage. Simply put, Club Kombucha isn't about «who's got the biggest scoby» - they keep it simple and fresh!
For those who still don't know, what is kombucha? According to Wikipedia, Kombucha is a slightly acidic fermented beverage. It is prepared by immersing a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast in a sweet tea-based solution (traditionally black tea). To this day, the origins of Kombucha remain unknown. The drink may be thousands of years old, but the first written accounts of it date back only to the end of the 19th century.
At Studio Blackthorns, we can't recommend this drink highly enough!
As part of its strategic entry into the non-alcoholic beverages, Chicago-based Molson Coors Beverage Co. has launched its seltzer probiotic HUZZAH, the company's first non-alcoholic innovation.
HUZZAH is a flavored sparkling water with added probiotics to help maintain a healthy gut. This shelf-stable beverage contains 3 grams or less of sugar and 15 calories or less in each 33cl can. HUZZAH is available in the Southern California region in three flavors: Strawberry/Ihibiscus, Juicy Pear and Raspberry/Lemon.
Building a strong portfolio of beverage products outside the traditional beer category to meet changing consumer preferences is an essential part of our long-term strategy.
Pete Marino, President of Emergin Growth at Molson Coors
Arlo Boozy is typically a Generation-Z brand. With its flashy colors, display typography and music-influenced mood, this hard kombucha has all the hallmarks of a modern, Instagrammable brand. Each fragrance even has its own Spotify playlist dedicated!
Arlo is clearly a social drink. It's a conversation starter, an ice breaker and a cheerful companion for your day. Arlo believes that building community starts with a small gesture, a word and the simple act of sharing something good.
According to the Canadian company, «Arlo has created a delicious beverage category by combining the alcohol naturally present in kombucha with extraordinarily delicious flavors. The drinks are created to be enjoyed and shared with quality people.»
Arlo uses only real ingredients. So that mango really does taste like mango, and not like the generic tropical, peachy variety that's always too sweet. So that kombucha's natural fermentation process is preserved for optimal intestinal benefits.
Yugen's story begins in 2013 in the United States, where Yannick drank his first kombucha as a natural hangover remedy. Historically, people drink kombucha because it can aid digestion, detoxify the liver and boost immunity. Intrigued by its distinctive taste, strange history and purported health benefits, Yugen's founder quickly learned to prepare it himself.
The word «Yugen» embodies their vision of the world. It's a Japanese concept, used to express the immense sense of awe aroused by the beauty of the natural world. It's the awareness of the universe that triggers feelings too deep and mysterious to express.
There are many ways to explain this complex feeling or emotion that is Yugen, but the one the brand prefers comes from the 13th-century author Kamo no Chomei: «When looking at the autumn mountains through the mist, the view may be indistinct but have great depth. Although few autumn leaves are visible through the mist, the view is seductive. The boundless panorama created by the imagination far surpasses anything we can see more clearly.».
This wonder at life, even without seeing it, is what they want to convey with their kombucha. Each bottle is filled with the finest ingredients Mother Nature can provide. Pure, unprocessed and thriving with beneficial life.
Slow down, adopt the slow-life attitude and appreciate the beautiful but subtle details of life, imagine how you too can be part of a better world.
Frida Kombucha is a fizzy probiotic drink, but it's still a concept.
To mark the agency's 10th anniversary, Studio Blackthorns created 366 cans in one year, one a day. In the pack was Frida Kombucha, with its range of 6 different flavours such as Ginger Power, Grapefruit, Chocolate Mint, Rose Kiss...
To illustrate the benefits of kombucha, we've used several motifs with geometric shapes and circles that essentially represent the bacteria at work in our gut. Organic, visual and alive!
In short, the design of these cans is a metaphor for good digestion (with a beautiful palette of colors). The Frida typography comes from the foundry Violaine and Jérémy and blends perfectly with the overall look of this age-old beverage.
Sound is sparkling water for all your senses. Their bubbles can't stand still. Their ingredients are always organic and never sweet, with interesting botanical notes. Vanilla, a hint of tangerine, fields of blueberries... it's all in the mix!
Sound is convinced that the world needs more «sweet people» and fewer sweet drinks. They also believe that to have a real impact, they need to do more than just make a drink. They donate a portion of their sales and time to organizations fighting on the front line for better nutrition and access to food.
Sound is clearly in the social inclusion vibe we were talking about in branding and packaging trends for 2021.
Culture Pop is a soda unlike anything you've ever drunk! Their mission is to reinvent soft drinks (no less ^^) by creating sodas with real, «fun'ctional» ingredients with just a touch of sweetness.
Their blend of organic juices, ground organic spices and live probiotics brings a complex, tasty twist to familiar flavors. Simple, refreshing and delicious, Culture Pop Soda is a soda they can be proud of!
The drink is made from organic fruit juices and real, ground organic spices. Each 33cl can contains 40 calories and billions of CFUs of live probiotics at the time of canning. Culture POP is tasty, slightly spicy and fruity. It's also much better for you than traditional soda; it's non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free and plant-based.
Hi-Five is a fully-fledged collection from the Yaya Kombucha brand (also featured later in this article).
It's a universal truth that we learn when we're young: a high five is the ultimate celebration. From childhood sporting victories to success at work, life's best moments are celebrated with a high five!
But more than a gesture, it's about spreading positivity. Made by the creators of YAYA Kombucha, Hi-Five Ice Tea is the only artisanal iced tea brewed in the Netherlands. They make their iced tea with real, natural ingredients, such as tea leaves, herbs and fresh fruit juices.
These ingredients are 100 % organic and contain no harmful substances. This is what gives their iced teas their fresh, unique taste. Their iced teas are handcrafted in their Amsterdam brewery and their cans are 100 % recyclable.
From an idea in Los Angeles, through their first kombucha brewery and taproom in Hackney Wick, East London, to their current brewery in Oudenaarde (Belgium), JARR's journey has always been guided by a passion for the art of brewing. changing consumer habits. JARR also aims to change perceptions; they imagine what a soft drink can be, using ancient traditions adapted to the modern world.
Their kombucha is complex, indisputably punchy and damn delicious. Enjoy it in place of artificially produced sugary soft drinks, mix it with your favorite spirit or use it as an alternative to beer, cider or wine. when you don't feel like drinking alcohol.
Brewing kombucha should always be done with passion, love, care and attention to detail. JARR believes that this process should never be outsourced to a third party. They have and will always continue to brew and bottle their kombucha in-house to ensure that it is made to the highest standards of quality and consistency.
That's why they've invested heavily in building a state-of-the-art kombucha brewery in Oudenaarde where they can continue to grow, learn and focus on making the best-tasting, highest-quality kombucha possible for years to come.
Khamir&Co is a brand with a strong character. It blends pure joy, childhood innocence, boldness and romance.
Brand labels and packaging are sensitively designed and crafted to reveal the freshness of the flavors, the premium aspect of the brand and generate a relaxing atmosphere, alongside their non-alcoholic beverage.
Khamir&Co's positioning, close to nature, helped build a powerful storytelling with a touch of maturity, and thus seduce its audience of modern women and sensitive men. The packaging's visuals and communication convey genuine goodness and a gentlemanly spirit.
The packaging is designed with the intention of making Kombucha a symbol and perhaps a beacon for new conversations about a gender-neutral societal construct, i.e. the «new culture» the brand is creating.
Khamir&Co's colors reflect a local brand that strives to add contemporary features to the Indian food and beverage industry.
Like Frida Kombucha, Lifted Kombucha is a conceptual brand. The Toronto agency Chargefield has created a design system that can be adapted to different uses, such as bottles, bags, cans and other types of packaging.
With a surreal image of a bird lifting a fox into the air, the scene demonstrates the health-giving benefits of kombucha and its natural effervescence. A kind of redbull only cooler!
Opportunities to send or receive postcards are becoming increasingly rare in Japan, and around the world for that matter. For you, when was the last time? Using a postcard motif, Dogo No Machiya has created an analog-looking design with human warmth.
Creating an analog sensation also means demonstrating that the product is made from oranges carefully cultivated by farmers.
The stickers are detached from each other like postage stamps, allowing you to further personalize the packaging with different sticker arrangements. Very subtle, very creative, but certainly costly in production time too...
The packaging is wrapped in a mesh bag, commonly used for oranges in Japan, which underlines the fact that this is 100% pure juice.
For the record, the new design contributed to an increase in sales of 130% over the pre-renewal period!
Ruby is a hibiscus-flavored water with no additives. Pretty simple, huh? However, it goes without saying that the brand is a little obsessed with hibiscus flowers!
The hibiscus flower has been growing all over the world for thousands of years, with eight specific species that were native to Hawaii (arnottianus and kokio), Mauritius (genevieve, fragilis, liliflorus), Fiji (storckii), Madagascar (schizopetalus), and China or India (rosa-sinensis). But this last strain, rosa-sinensis, was the common root of what, in some places, came to be known as comfort root.
These eight strains had a number of the characteristics we know today. They could form seeds using their own pollen, they were free-flowering, although a little smaller than the hibiscus we know and love today. The Hawaiian strain, in particular, was unique with its white leaves, while other strains were pink and red.
Ruby now uses hibiscus sabdariffa, which is native to West Africa and Southeast Asia. They source it from an ethical farm in Burkina Faso.
Like most brewers, Yaya's founders began brewing kombucha in 2013 in their Amsterdam home. In 2015, the decision was made to start brewing commercially and the spare room became a full-fledged home brewery where flavor development and research began.
A year and many tastings later, the feedback was in, people loved kombucha. YAYA Kombucha was officially founded in late 2016 and by early 2017, the brewery was fully operational.
After relocating two sites and scaling up in 2018 and 2019, they set up shop in Amsterdam's Houthavens industrial district. As they like to do everything in-house, their brewery accommodates a unique kombucha brewing facility, fermentation zone and fully automatic bottling line.
Tom and Charlotte have a single goal: to make the best kombucha in Europe. Tom: «We wanted to make something unique in terms of flavor, refreshing and with the perfect balance of sweet and salty.
YAYA Kombucha is a freshly brewed, unpasteurized product made from 100% organic and real ingredients, such as loose tea leaves and cold-pressed juices. The team strives to find the best ingredients, such as organic yuzu juice from Japan and interesting new hop varieties.