Client
Little Dish

Design Consultancy
Pearlfisher
Sasha Horne
020 7603 8666
sasha@pearlfisher.com
www.pearlfisher.com

The Challenge
The UK baby food market is worth £184million (Euro 272million) and retail sales in the toddler food section have been predicted to grow by 45% between 2004 and 2009. But in early 2006 there was no brand offering fresh, natural food to toddlers. One company set out to become the first brand to sell healthy chilled meals and snacks to this section of the market. Approved by pediatric dieticians, the meals aimed to offer busy and time-pressured parents a convenient and reassuring alternative to home-cooked food.

The Brief
Pearlfisher was asked to create a name, brand identity and strategy for a range that would make good food fun. These would need to emphasise the brand’s point of difference – its responsible and educational approach to nutrition, and its mission to build good eating habits among children. At launch the business was being run from the founding partner’s flat, and the only listing secured was on the internet grocer Ocado - the company desperately needed to achieve successful listing by another major supermarket within year one.

The Design
The Little Dish brand identity has been designed to appeal equally to children and their parents. Its storybook style features engaging characters that entertain and educate children about the benefits of a healthy diet. The natural muted colours appeal to adults, while limericks on the packaging combine stories for children with nutritional information for adults. Inside the pack, line drawings for colouring-in help to keep children amused while adults prepare the meal.

The Results
Little Dish launched in April 2006 on a design budget of £30,000 (Euro 44,460). By the end of year one, total brand sales had reached £900,000 (Euro 1,333,800). Ocado’s initial forecast for the first five weeks of sales sold out within hours, and by the end of that five weeks sales had exceeded those estimates by 800%. Little Dish was listed by Waitrose within a month of launch, Tesco within three months and Sainsbury’s within six months. At Waitrose, year-on-year sales growth of 157% was achieved by May 2007. The company now employs seven staff at its London headquarters, and sales for year two are forecast at £4million (Euro 5,929,000).

Judges Comments
‘Impressive’, said the judges, who praised ‘the fact that not only is this a new brand, it’s also a new company’. The panel added that many companies have tried and failed in this space, making the success of this project even more significant. Amanda Bringans, Deputy Director of Fundraising at Macmillan Cancer Support said ‘It’s absolutely outstanding, very clever, not only the sales but also the designs themselves and also the plans for the future to expand into children’s cookbooks. Fantastic.’

Gold
Corporate / Brand Identity – Design and implementation costs under £100,000