Glenilen Farm

Designed by The Brand Union, United Kingdom.

From small beginnings
Started by Val and Alan Kingston, Glenilen Farm are a small traditional dairy farm based in Drimoleague, West Cork. In 1997 Val began making cheesecakes and yoghurts for the local market. Since then they have grown from strength to strength and now they convert all of their milk into delicio us products using only the best quality ingredients, reflecting their steadfast belief in the goodness of wholesome, natural food.

Introducing Sally & Sue
Our challenge was to refresh the brand in a manner that attracted new consumers to Glenilen Farm products without disengaging the pre-existing consumer base. Also required was a tone-of-voice to allow the genuine, simple and honest nature of Glenilen Farm to be expressed on and off pack. At a practical level, the brand needed to reproduce well across a wide variety of pack formats, substrates and printing techniques. The new Glenilen Farm logo, ‘Sally and Sue’, drew provenance from ‘Anniken and the Cows’, a painting by Canadian artist Robert Duncan. The painting, which hangs in the farmhouse of Glenilen Farm, is a simple and honest portrayal of farming life and so aptly represents the Glenilen Farm brand. We developed pack designs and tone-of-voice to reinforce the repositioning of Glenilen Farm as producers of authentic farmhouse products. The design differentiated itself through a strong typographic style, the use of simple language, packaging formats and the reinterpretation of traditional dairy colors (blue and white).

The crème de la crème
In 2009 Glenilen Farm scooped top prize in the Packaging category of Institute of Designers in Ireland Awards.

In the face of extreme economic downturn, product sales rose considerably. Glenilen Farm increased their stockists throughout Ireland with the rebrand cited as a strong influencer in new stockists’ decision-making. The brand tested so well in Great Britain that Glenilen sought stockists there and is now sold in Selfridges (London) and Waitrose supermarkets. Public response to the rebrand was also strong, with customers referencing the new packaging in many comments left on Glenilen's website (www.glenilen.com) and Facebook page.

In December 2011 the rebrand work for Glenilen Farm won the coveted Grand Prix and the Consumer Branding & Identity category at the Irish Design Effectiveness Awards.