Positioning Local Veggie Stores As "Everyday Farmers Markets"

What started in 1983 as an 8-foot table at Vancouver’s famed Granville Island Public Market has become a thriving chain of fruit and veggie stores with 23 locations across Greater Vancouver. Kin’s advertises online via Instagram and Facebook posts, but they’ve lacked a cohesive visual approach or plan until recently. 

For the past few years, I’ve worked on a project-by-project basis with them and have produced dozens of weekly sales posts and in-store sale signs — all with different looks.

Their Marketing Director and I met one day and discussed ways to infuse their marketing with a look that more clearly positioned them as “Your Everyday Farmer’s Market”. People tend to feel that Farmer’s Market vendors offer the freshest produce at the best prices, so I set about developing a visual platform that would cue the “Farmer’s Market” feel.

Everyone is familiar with the gorgeous fruit crate labels that were stapled on wooden crates of lemons, oranges and apples decades ago. They’re sought out by collectors, antique dealers and interior designers alike for their rich colours and distinctive looks. 

What if we could emulate that look I thought? It would immediately signal authenticity and freshness in a way that people recognize at a core level. The client enthusiastically agreed and we set about sourcing old labels in the public domain.

I took familiar cues from the labels to create my own originals in different sizes and aspect ratios. I used period-correct typography and colours then added distressed surface treatments, grain and even staples in the label corners.

Together, we created label-inspired store signage, social media posts and ads as well as banners and posters of various sizes.

The look has been hugely popular with Kin’s Management and has helped differentiate Kin’s expertise in fruit and veg as well as better positioning them as a “Local Farmer’s Market” alternative. The label treatment now appears in various store locations, displays, on their website and in their social feeds.