the story.

The brand’s launch challenge was both simple and incredibly complex—the world has just been turned upside down.

How do we make consumers care about lettuce? Fifth Season’s original volume roadmap reached quotas through a 50/50 split between grocery and foodservice, but in March of 2020 the global restaurant industry shut off overnight, and retailers halted all new products on shelf to focus on COVID demand planning. With investor funding tied to sales and distribution metrics, Fifth Season had to bypass traditional channels and build a DTC channel strategy fast.the rest.

We targeted knowledge workers and busy parents with a healthy lunch solution in the form of fresh, delicious salad kits.

We designed new packaging that focused on the “joy and delight” essence of the brand. Then we helped Fifth Season build out a DTC web presence and operational solution. We established new voice principles with tone pillars of “Bright”, “Playful”, “Unpretentious”, and “Clever”, creating a brand that plays with our food and looks at the bright side. The bold color palette and illustrative elements are now used across all brand assets and social presence.

The new strategy resulted in a growing DTC presence with 81% of customers repeat purchasing, and an average purchase of 3 salads per transaction. The largest retailer in Pittsburgh, Giant Eagle, carried Fifth Season salads with an expanding footprint in 3 new cities. Grocery sales are outperforming the competition by 150% (even at a more premium price point).