Snow’s is a heritage New England Clam Company founded by Fred Snow in Pine Point, Maine back in 1920. Now owned by Bumble Bee, the company wanted to revive the nostalgia of the clam brand, going back to it’s original recipes and removing the Bumble Bee name from the packaging.

This brand had a lot of loyal customers when it was independently owned & run. When Bumble Bee purchased them ages ago, they reformulated the recipes, mostly to increase profits and rebranded with a prominent Bumble Bee presence. There was a terrible backlash as customers felt duped and sales declined.

For this project, the client reinstated the original recipes and asked us to develop a brand without a Bumble Bee presence and with a nostalgic feeling that consumers get from the comforting clam chowder they knew and loved.

We took all the type & traced it, giving it the imperfections and beauty of menus done before computers. The limited color palette with a weathered red and blue combination with a distressed creamy background added to the classic vibe. Sketchy, simple illustrations enhance flavor cues and add visual interest along the way.

The humble approach was intended to rebuild trust with it’s current customers and engage a new audience interested in an authentic clam experience inspired by mom & pop comfort food chowder places you might find in Maine.

We were able to depart a lot when it came to chowders, but it was a different story with the other clam products. Snow’s had 80% of the market & they didn’t want to lose current customers with confusion. We maintained the old color palette, but incorporated the hand-drawn type & illustrations.

The client was delighted with the unconventional approach and grocery buyers are loving the evolved brand and new packaging, increasing both taste appeal & distinction from its competition.