Italian olive oil producer Bertolli has launched its largest-ever packaging rebrand with the new design paying tribute to the Italian culture and tradition.
The redesigned bottles, which are made from 100% recyclable PET, aim to link the company’s present and past, which has origins in 1865.
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The brand employed British packaging design firm Stranger and Stranger to come up with a new look that would honour its heritage.
Bertolli olive oil was first produced in a shop in Lucca, Italy, where a married couple started to commercialise their product first in Tuscany and eventually globally. In order to honour the geographical origins of the brand, the new bottles have an oval shape that reproduces Lucca’s main square.
The design of the labelling in all bottles also has a retro feel that aims to honour the centuries-old tradition of olive oils in Italy. The label also harks back to the years of Bertolli’s first exports to the US, with the font paying tribute to the traditional Italian posters.
These features all celebrate the company’s pioneering work at the end of the 19th century, when olive oil was shipped offshore in metal cans and drums, before Bertolli became the first to introduce glass bottles.
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By GlobalDataBertolli’s packaging has maintained the brand’s logo and colour, which protects against light and helps to preserve the quality of the oil. The restyling will be applied to the producer’s whole range of products, Gentile, Fragrante, Robusto and Classico.
The rebrand is particularly important for Bertolli as it represents a shift to PET bottles from a plastic and glass mix. Launched at the beginning of April, the packaging will be sold in Italy and throughout the world in bottle sizes ranging from 200ml to 3l.
CEO of Bertolli’s brand owner Deoleo Glenn Hartman recently told Packaging Digest: “The new bottle’s shape is a nod to our heritage—the oval profile replicates that of the heart of Lucca, the birthplace of Bertolli olive oil, and a city well-known for its round design created by fortifications. With this bold choice, consumers will be able to more easily identify our products on the shelf.”
He said in another interview: “Sleek and sophisticated imagery, as well as simple messaging on the new bottle illustrate the brand’s artisanal pedigree, the legacy of Francesco Bertolli and our commitment to quality. It’s been 150 years since Bertolli Olive Oil was introduced to the world. We’re proud and excited to share the new Bertolli brand with our loyal customers.”
Bertolli recently won the Quality Award in the extra virgin olive oil category for the third consecutive year. At the awards, the brand’s packaging was also ranked the fifth best in the category of shelf oils.
In the weeks following the launch of the bottles, Deloeo reportedly settled a class-action lawsuit that concerned Bertolli’s labelling.
The complaint made against Bertolli was that it misrepresented its products by labelling them as ‘imported from Italy’, which, however, was only partially true.
As a consequence of the lawsuit, Deoleo’s Spanish parent company Deoleo announced it would invest around $25m on the relaunching and marketing of the product in Italy and the US.
