Tillamook Cheese's New Look is One for the Ages
Dairy innovator and global "best of dairy" brand Tillamook Cheese is rebranding itself and the new look is very, very cool. Inspired by some brand designs considered in the 1950's (yes, Tillamook has been around a long time...110 years to be exact), the new logo and color treatments are bold, clean and, well, simply gorgeous. Take a gander at a few upcoming products that we'll be happy to see here in Portland, Seattle, and a few other markets:
flexible-packaging
Tillamook's Products Expanding, Consumer-driven
Tillamook Cheese has been growing, fast. In fact, rapid national expansion over the past five years has created 60% growth in the company and generated over $800 million in sales (2017). That's up from $477 million in 2012. Wow. And with all that growth, new product ideas have been sought, mostly via consumer feedback. Indeed, Tillamook truly listens to its consumers and has made many product decisions based on this input. Makes sense, right? Listen to those who buy from you already. Brand loyalty x2. On this point, here's an excerpt from Food Business News:
"Consumers play a central role in research and development at Tillamook. The recently launched Sauce Starters line was inspired by a comment from a participant at a focus group. The just-add-milk cheese sauce mixes include seasoning blends and feature varieties such as creamy alfredo, aged cheddar, spicy queso and three cheese.
We have a range of ways of engaging with consumers as we develop products,” Mr. Criteser said. “In some cases, it’s the more typical focus group structure or setting. We also spend time with consumers in their kitchens or in their gatherings with friends in their living rooms. We also invite them in to one of our R.&D. facilities or offices and ask them to taste and give feedback and cook with a product.
In this quest to provide something that’s new in the marketplace, that’s still on-brand but meeting an unmet need for consumers, we try to have as much interaction with consumers in those various ways as we can.”
Also from Food Business News, check out this new lineup of consumer-driven products:
"The latest addition is slated to debut in March. Tillamook Cheeseboard is a line of premium snack packs featuring cheese, crackers and fruit spread. Varieties include Sharp Berry Crunch, with sharp white cheddar cheese, marionberry spread and rosemary crackers; Spicy Berry Bite, with Pepper Jack cheese, marionberry spread and multigrain crackers; Smoky Apple Crisp, with smoked medium cheddar cheese, apple spread and olive oil crackers; and Sharp Strawberry Heat, with sharp white cheddar cheese, spicy strawberry spread and rosemary crackers.
The products will launch in select markets, including Portland, Ore.; Seattle and Spokane, Wash., and Denver."
There has been some stated consumer interest in plant-based products (a big trend these days), but Tillamook plans on sticking to its dairy guns. They are a dairy company afterall, so they'll continue to do what they do best, all the while innovating within that realm. Here's a quote on this element, again from the Food Business News article:
“We’re a dairy company, so we stay focused on how we produce dairy products that consumers are going to choose as part of their diet,” Mr. Criteser (Tillamook CEO) said. “At this point we’re not considering adding any plant-based products to supplement our main brand offering. I’m not sure if we would ever do that in the future. It’s not something we’re thinking about right now.”
Some More, New Branding Looks
Here's the look, once again, applied to some classics and some new, cheese-based items:
flexible-packaging
Some of Tillamook's core products are shown here, with the new branding. Very sharp, very smoky! Pun intended of course! Image Courtesy: Tillamook Cheese
Here again, I am really enjoying this new look as it just seems to flow so well. The cursive, stylized font seems to jibe with all the cool chalkboard signage we've been seeing these days. Hats off Tillamook!
flexible-packaging
Just check out these bold colors. While this design and look was being entertained almost 65 years ago, it's amazing how perfect a fit it is for today. Full circle. Image Courtesy: Tillamook Cheese