Our coffee bags were illustrated by the artist Mara Berger. On the bags, we tell the journey of coffee with a twinkle in our eye. A look back from the beginnings of our packaging to the status quo.
In January 2017, we launched Spring Roasters as a project of Kaffeemacher Rösterei GmbH. Spring Roasters was the roastery that allowed us to supply our own Café Frühling right away – hence the name.
A little later, "in the name of" was added, our second project, under which name we performed contract roasting for third parties. We still do these roasts, but as Kaffeemacher Rösterei. In May 2019, we finally announced that we were merging the two projects. So, since May 2019, we have been the Kaffeemacher-Rösterei.
A Look Back at Our Packaging
To reflect these internal developments, we wanted to communicate this externally with a new image. But before we discuss the new bags, let's take a quick look back at how it all started.
The Beginning (2017)
Simple and clear was the initial motto. A blossom and a branch from a coffee tree, plus a simple lettering. With this, we began to launch the Spring Roasters brand.
Since early 2017, we have been using the black bags from the Stroebel Eco-Line without aluminum coating. We still pack private-label coffees in these bags today.
More Info (2017)
The minimalist label was no longer enough by the end of 2017 to tell more about the coffee. We wanted to tell more about the origin and the processing methods. We put this information on an extra slip of paper.
More Color (2018)
We roasted more and more coffees and began to associate flavors with colors. At the same time, the label became calmer, as there was now a clear separation of color and plant. We also modernized the typeface.
All New (2019)
And now, in 2019, everything is new. The coffee plant from the first package served as inspiration for us to continue using a sketch-like drawing style. Only everything else around it was to be new.
Our Re-Branding Process
Every rebranding process offers opportunities. With the new bag and the new coffee appearance, we wanted to show how we understand our view of specialty coffee. Over the past eight months, we have therefore intensively dealt with our identity and our values.
Simple or Wild? Very Wild.
For us, specialty coffee doesn't just stand for taste, but also for the approach to how one wants to treat coffee and the people associated with it.
Specialty coffee is diverse; no two coffee chains are exactly alike. Just as there isn't the coffee producer, there isn't the roaster. We wanted to express this diversity. We brought Mara Berger / moktokillustration (https://www.instagram.com/moktokillustration/) on board because we highly value her work.
Mara manages to tell big stories in a small space. And that was exactly the goal.
With Mara, we wanted to show a general coffee story from A to Z, starting on the farm, and now the front of the new bag.
The front shows a coffee farm, a dense flora, a grinning coffee maker awkwardly picking coffee, someone fertilizing coffee, the wildlife, and characters that would reappear.
We are all fans of Where's Wally? so the idea of a busy picture was not far off for us. Today, much is simple and elegant. We wanted to show coffee as it is for us – wild, vibrant, and a bit chaotic.
In the upper part, we have immortalized our partners from Boca de Lobo in Nicaragua:
The wolf (lobo) is the logo of Claudia and Tim's project, to host volunteers on a coffee farm for a period of time and learn about the community, coffee, and local life.
Coffee from A to Z
We roast the green coffee we purchase in Münchenstein, then serve it in our Café Frühling in Kleinbasel and now also at Basel SBB station, or we sell it in our shop.
On the back of the package, Mara has illustratively summarized these further stages of the coffee chain.
The roasting machine (Diedrich) is happy, as are the brewing methods, we taste coffee, the guests are satisfied, and the dog in the catering bike is also in a good mood.
Coffee is not a perfect world, we know that. But coffee is emotional. And we wanted to do justice to this emotionality of the product.
The MokTok Character
Many artists have their favorite character. A figure that appears again and again somewhere, albeit in a modified form. We firmly believe that Mara has incorporated her favorite character on one side of the pack. Here he is trying his hand at latte art.
A Little Fun Is Essential
Sometimes we find that coffee comes across as a bit too simple and super premium. So we wanted to do something with a bit of humor.
And anyone who wants to can color in the bag, whether big or small.
The Labels and Coffee Info
We discussed for a long time how we wanted to communicate coffee knowledge. On the one hand, we want to tell why we like exactly this coffee. On the other hand, we run the risk of overwhelming someone with too much information and data.
So we decided on simple labels (in contrast to the wild packaging) and coffee info cards. Salome, our Kaffeemacher graphic designer, designed both. Thus, we now have a consistent form and color language, which makes the entire range appear uniform.
For the coffee info, we opted for an info card with two options. The front is for a quick check, "what kind of coffee is this?", while the back allows for a deeper engagement with the product.
The Coffee Barometer
To make it easier to enter the world of coffee, we opted for a coffee barometer. It swings between comfort and adventure depending on the coffee.
When it came to naming these two coffee styles, we drew inspiration from the concept of a roastery that, unfortunately, no longer exists today: Handsome Coffee Roasters in Los Angeles, CA.
The distinction between comfort and adventure is meant to help people find what they're looking for faster and get a feel for the coffee.
Comfort: These are coffees that greet you. Coffees that taste like coffee. Coffees whose taste is familiar, yet distinctly different from the crowd. Coffees that make you want many more cups, coffees that don't require much overthinking, but simply fulfill their purpose: to be enjoyable.
Adventure: these are coffees that are different. Coffees that demand some imagination. Coffees that surprise, perhaps are uncomfortable, but always broaden horizons. Coffees that do not hide their character. Coffees whose task it is to look beyond the sensory horizon and see the unknown.
To the Future
The discussions held were at times emotional, as they were about what we do every day. With the new bags and the new design, we want to express what we love. What we do every day, what makes us happy.
We sincerely thank Mara Berger / moktokillustrations for the great collaboration. The bags have truly become unique. Our Salome then completed them with simple labels and postcards.
We are ready for the next steps and look forward to releasing the wild bags into coffee freedom. All the best.
