Back to the Source
A brand identity and e-commerce experience for a family-run organic orchard, built around provenance, trust and a closer connection between people and the food they buy.
Services:
Brand Strategy, Brand Identity, Packaging, E-commerce Website, Copywriting, Art Direction
Industry:
Organic Produce
Timeline
Current
Sabine and Stephan have been growing fruit on the same patch of land in Tauranga since 2011. Avocados, lemons, apples and macadamias, all certified organic and grown with the same care they'd want for their own family.
For more than a decade, their produce travelled through exporters and packhouses before reaching people's kitchens. Along the way, it lost its connection to the people and place behind it. By the time it reached a customer, there was little to tell them where it had grown, who had picked it or when.
Back to the Source brings that connection back.
The business now sells directly from its own orchard, giving customers access to the people growing their food and the land it comes from. Through traceable produce, orchard visits and educational experiences, customers can become part of that story.
The central idea became Good food has an address.
GOOD FOOD HAS AN ADDRESS.
Organic produce is full of familiar promises. Fresh, natural, sustainable, locally grown. But these words mean little without something to back them up.
Back to the Source has a more tangible story. Every product comes from the same family-owned orchard, where the growers, growing practices and origins are known.
I built the brand positioning around provenance. The source becomes more than a point of origin; it gives customers a reason to buy directly, something to learn about and a place to visit.
Good food has an address.
A simple idea with room to carry the entire brand, from the identity and packaging to the online shopping experience.
AN IDENTITY ROOTED IN PLACE.
The identity needed a mark that could bring the different parts of the business together.
An early direction explored a fingerprint, representing the human touch behind every piece of produce. But the more important question wasn't who had handled the food. It was where it came from.
That led to the location pin.
The final mark brings together five rounded petals to form a flower. One petal doubles as a location pin, while the overall shape references a halved avocado and its seed.
Each petal represents a part of the orchard's living ecosystem: insects, flowers, animals, soil and trees.
It's a flower, an address and a reference to the produce, brought together in one recognisable symbol.
A MODERN TAKE ON ORGANIC.
Sabine and Stephan prioritise soil health, biodiversity and sustainable growing practices, with much of the work done by hand.
The visual identity takes its cues from the orchard's approach to growing: considered, hands-on and forward-thinking.
I developed a rounded display typeface using the curves of the flower mark as its starting point. Paired with an editorial serif, it creates a distinctive typographic system that balances personality with clarity.
The colour palette draws from the produce and the surrounding landscape. Fresh lime, olive, cream and deep forest green create contrast across packaging, digital applications and supporting materials.
The result is a contemporary identity with a strong connection to its origins and a recognisable presence across the produce range.
TRUST IS SOMETHING YOU SHOW.
Organic is a familiar label, but customers rarely get to look beyond the claim.
For Back to the Source, I made proof part of the brand's communication.
Anyone can say organic. We're audited.
The line brings the orchard's independent BioGro certification to the forefront, giving customers something tangible behind its organic credentials.
The same thinking extends to the orchard's soil and nutritional testing, creating opportunities to share measurable information about the land and what it grows.
It also informed the provenance system. Growing information, picking dates and the source of each box become visible parts of the customer experience.
Trust is built through details people can see and verify.
EVERYTHING THAT LIVES BETWEEN THE TREES.
An orchard is more than the trees that produce its fruit.
Insects, flowers, animals, soil and surrounding plant life all play a part in the growing environment. These relationships are central to Sabine and Stephan's approach to organic farming.
The five petals of the identity provide a framework for bringing these elements into the wider brand.
Insects. Flowers. Animals. Soil. Trees.
Each becomes a subject in its own right, creating opportunities to share stories about biodiversity, organic growing and life on the land.
The idea extends beyond the products, giving customers more reasons to explore the orchard through visits, tours and workshops.
FROM THE ORCHARD TO YOUR DOOR.
Packaging was an opportunity to bring the brand's central idea directly into the customer's hands.
Labels take inspiration from field records and shipping documents, identifying where the produce came from, how it was grown, when it was picked and what's inside the box.
Inside, a ripening card helps customers get the best from their fruit, while a handwritten thank-you adds a personal touch.
Every box carries more than the produce. It carries information about its origin and the people who grew it.
A SIMPLER WAY TO SHOP.
With several fruit varieties and different harvest periods, the product range needed a clear structure that could accommodate seasonal availability and future growth.
Rather than presenting customers with endless combinations of varieties, sizes and quantities, I organised the range into a small selection of produce boxes, with additional choices available on individual product pages.
Product naming became another opportunity to make the experience more engaging.
The Guacamole Box, for example, brings avocados and lemons together around a familiar use. It gives customers an idea of what they can make, rather than simply listing what's included.
The subscription takes the relationship beyond individual orders. Members receive regular produce and access to free orchard visits, creating an ongoing connection with the harvest and the people behind it.
THE ORCHARD, OPEN TO EVERYONE.
The website brings the shop, the people and the orchard together in one experience.
Customers can browse available produce, choose their boxes and subscriptions, meet Sabine and Stephan, and learn about how the orchard is managed.
Dedicated sections for visits, tours and workshops give customers another way to engage with the business, while educational content opens up the world behind the produce.
The result is an online experience that does more than facilitate a purchase. It gives customers a reason to return, explore and connect with the source.
BACK TO THE SOURCE.
From the identity and packaging to the product range and website, the same idea runs through every part of Back to the Source.
Customers know where their food comes from, who grew it and how to discover more about the land behind it.
Good food has an address.
