Koor designs the packaging for Asahi’s new range of beer-mixed drinks.

According to the Guardian, “Shandy is poised for a revival as the trend for no — or low -alcohol beer drinking driven by younger people is helping to fuel a thirst for craft versions of the traditional tipple.” In fact, in the UK, “Supermarket sales of so called “nolo” beer, wine and spirits have surged by 50% over the past year “

Beer-based products are in fashion, but they are not new. The Shandy was originated in Great Britain in the 1850s and the Radler (beer combined with grapefruit juice, lime juice, orange juice or classic lemonade) was created some 70 years later in Bavaria, by Franz Xaver Kugler. The story says that he was almost out of beer and to avoid his customers getting angry he mixed the remaining beer with the citrus juice he kept on hand ;)

In the 1990s, a new category called FMB (Flavoured Malt Beverages) appeared. Initially, for very pragmatic reasons: Producers realised that the tax on a malt beverage, whatever its flavour, was the same as for beer, whereas wines paid double and spirits up to ten times more!

This category has grown rapidly, along with RTD (Ready To Drink) products, the latter being aimed more at consumers who enjoy premium products at specific times, for example at a festival.

More recently, since 2019, we have seen the emergence of a ‘better for you’ trend, from consumers who want to control the effect of alcohol, especially young adults — generations Y and Z — who aim to live by their own rules and do what they like, and are looking for alternatives, with lower alcohol levels or calories.

This explains the spectacular rise of hard seltzer, hard lemonade or hard tea, along with the demand for new flavours in the mix, with lemonade in the lead. In these difficult times, lemonade brings happiness, and will be a dominant flavour in the beverage world in 2021. Hard tea is also a fast-growing category and, in general, consumers want a wide and creative choice of flavours.

Such trend has had long term steady growth in Central Europe — where main players such as Garage have dominated with a cult following. In response to this demand Koor packaging design agency was tasked by the team at Kompania Piwowarska, part of the Asahi Group, to create a new range of RTD beverages packaging from scratch — “Hardmade”, with a first launch in Poland, hitting retail and Horca this summer.

“Hardmade was created for all those who value freedom, freedom of choice and independence. People who want to experience new things but on their own terms, following the slogan ‘You can but you don’t have to’. Hardmade supports this approach at every level.”, says Anna Dzierżek, senior brand manager of Hardmade in Kompania Piwowarska.

According to Gregory Clark, Art director and partner at Koor, the core essence of the brand, ‘ you can but you don’t have to’, represents the idea that there are multiple takes on the same situations in everyday life.

For this reason an optical illusion mark was created to visually represent this. An alcoholic beverage feel was required so elements of traditional beer design were implemented to link to the fact this drink was a beer mix.

Credibility was key so the aesthetic world created had to be believable but also not too pretentious or fake whilst being engaging to the target market. With symbolics being ever important particularly in alcohol branding with tightening advertising restrictions it was deemed necessary to create a striking and fashionable brand mark.

The main problem to solve was to take on Garage hard lemonade at its own game — in creating an original and authentic mainstream craft brand.

Shelf impact and clear flavour communication was very important so a set of custom patterns paired with natural but impactful colours was chosen. Particular attention was paid to the transport boxes so the new product could have strong impact in retail environments without pos support.

Koor. Award-winning packaging design agency with Nordic roots.

We specialised in FMCG / Food & Beverage, with more than 10 years of successful experience in the Nordics and Central Europe and we are now operating in Switzerland.

Based on a proven creative methodology S.P.I.C.E, you will finally get the packaging that will perfectly support your brand AND your sales. You don’t have to choose anymore between a pack respecting your brand-book guidelines or an impactful facing that increases the turnover. Our 5-steps-design-toolkit S.P.I.C.E (Story, Positioning, Impact, Competition, Emotion) is the guaranty you can combine both objectives on a packaging.

In the last eight years, we have received 39 International packaging awards, including NAPA awards, Golden Egg awards, ADC*E awards, SIP awards and IWSC awards.

Contact Julien Basselier, managing director of Koor Switzerland for any questions or enquiries: julien@koor.eu or 0041(22)5753336.