When La Brea Bakery—America’s leading brand of artisan bread—asked us to redesign their 25-year-old packaging, we saw an opportunity that scaled beyond the package. Over time, its artisan breads had become invisible on store shelves—or, perhaps, worse—mistaken for just another private-label product. The extraordinary love and affinity for the craftsmanship of La Brea Bakery’s fresh bread was not being clearly articulated on pack or in the overall brand expression. Our agency’s mission: Give La Brea Bakery’s identity a facelift that conveys this handcrafted brand’s unique fusion of hearth and heart, of baking bread and breaking bread.

The best-selling artisan bread in the U.S., La Brea Bakery understood that packaging was their primary consumer touchpoint. To convey its heritage and authentic roots, the company kept its design consistent for a quarter century. However, with the recent rush for all-things-artisanal, La Brea Bakery no longer stood out among competitor brands and a growing list of contenders rising in the burgeoning In-Store Bakery (ISB) space. We were tasked with redesigning packaging to drive instant recognition and build loyalty at grocery while clearly differentiating and distancing the brand’s quality wares from the wide range—and unpredictable quality—of store brands.

We interviewed La Brea Bakery employees, from the leadership team and café staff to production-facility workers and distribution partners responsible for how the product appears on shelf. These conversations helped us identify challenges and core attributes.

One key finding: an unprecedented affinity for La Brea Bakery’s craftsmanship was not being articulated. While certainly consistent, the designed-in-1989 identity didn’t capture the brand’s aspirational spirit or its workers’ passion for making high-quality artisan goods.

Through this process, we recognized an opportunity to transform La Brea Bakery’s image using a design strategy that would communicate its personality, values and promise. We could be more emotive with the brand and share a bigger story about its heritage, commitment to craft, passion for baking goods and experience: breaking bread with others.

The previous identity had been rendered in a typeface that resembled dough, and the package’s small, novelty letters buried the brand on shelf. In the new design, a more modern, stylized lowercase “b” logo paired with the brand’s birth date (1989) is the focal point. The letter’s center is embellished with a subtle but playful baguette representing the heart of the brand. We retained the brand’s traditional deep red hue as a design throughline.

The public’s response to the La Brea Bakery brand relaunch? Phenomenal. An astounding 71% of shoppers redeemed “Share It Forward” coupons from the initiative’s social media campaign, and brand awareness increased from 13% to 19% nationally.

Once invisible in stores, La Brea Bakery’s packaged goods are today a brand beacon. The new logo graces the top of the bread’s casing to differentiate La Brea Bakery from other brands.

Most importantly, a sense of pride now runs throughout the La Brea Bakery family. The infectious effect has made its way to Swiss parent company ARYTZA, which will work with us this year to revamp other brands in its portfolio. The redesign became the focal point of the bakery’s recently opened flagship café in Los Angeles. This renovation will serve as the model for La Brea Bakery cafes at locations including Los Angeles Airport (LAX) and Downtown Disney.