7 Ways to Make Your Natural Brand Redesign Pay Off
The research is clear: a well-executed packaging redesign increases sales for most brands. Here's how to make sure yours is one of them.
All-natural and organic food brands are growing consistently — 2.5 times faster than conventional CPG on average. That’s the good news. The challenging news is that the category has never been more competitive. Whole Foods has serious competition from Kroger, Publix, Target, and Walmart, all of whom have invested heavily in store brands that credibly mimic the natural aesthetic. New challengers appear every quarter. The definition of “natural” keeps evolving.
In this environment, how do you wisely invest limited marketing resources and get the most return?
One answer is packaging redesign. Research from the SPINS and Pure Branding Natural Products Marketing Benchmark Report found that 62% of natural product marketers had undergone a packaging redesign in the prior year. Of those, 54% experienced an increase in sales within 4 to 6 months. Only 2% saw decreased sales. Compare that to 16% who saw no change and 28% who weren’t sure.
The odds are in your favor — but only if you approach the redesign strategically. Here are seven principles that separate the 54% from the rest.
1. Be Authentic
To rise above the sea of sameness, your packaging needs to be a true expression of your brand promise. Does it communicate the product benefits as well as what’s not included? Are you clearly expressing what makes you different — in a way consumers can read in the blink of an eye?
Consumers in the natural products space are increasingly skeptical. They’re looking for truth because they’ve been misled before — on obesity, health, nutrition, origin, sustainability, freshness, and food safety. Your packaging needs to communicate authenticity, not just claim it.
Clif Bar is the benchmark here. Gary Erickson got the idea for his product on a day-long mountain bike ride, packing a variety of energy bars. He discovered a need and delivered a solution because he lived the lifestyle. The idea didn’t come from a corporate board room — and the brand has never pretended otherwise. That authenticity has sustained Clif Bar’s category leadership for decades. What’s your true brand story, and is your packaging telling it?
2. Know Your Target Audience
Is there a new or emerging audience that shares your brand values and could also be connecting with you? How can you redesign your identity and packaging to connect with new customers while staying relevant to the ones who’ve been there from the start?
These are questions worth sitting with before any redesign begins. Most global brands are now actively targeting consumers who prioritize transparency, sustainability, and values alignment — not just price and taste. They have research budgets you don’t. Your advantage is that your authenticity is real.
EVOL Foods targets a younger, values-driven consumer with messaging like “Bring down the broken food system. One bite at a time.” Their packaging doesn’t just describe the product — it invites the consumer into a shared worldview. Know who you’re talking to before you decide what to say.
3. Feed the Movement
There is a genuine revolution happening in the North American food system. Consumers are fighting with their wallets — for Non-GMO, for transparency, for regenerative agriculture, for cleaner ingredients. They’re being educated by documentaries, social media, and each other in ways that no marketing budget can replicate.
If your brand is genuinely part of this movement — if your sourcing, your practices, your values reflect it — your packaging is one of the most powerful free media tools you have to continue the story. How can you give consumers something to connect with, share, and believe in through the packaging itself?
4. Be Unique, But Not a Freak
Since the natural products business is competitive and retail shelf space is finite, you need to attract consumer attention. Be radically different, right? Yes and no.
By presenting a disruptive visual anomaly in the context of your category, you will attract attention. But will your brand be relevant to your target audience and express your brand promise? The bar analogy: if you walk in wearing a pink mohawk and studded leather, you’ll get attention. But you won’t be relevant to a room full of young professionals.
You need to be aware of both the category cues and your target audience simultaneously. Then develop packaging that helps your brand rise above the noise within that context — not outside it. Distinct within the category. Not alien to it.
5. Know Your Competitors
Big brands, store brands, startups. The natural products world is constantly evolving. When’s the last time you genuinely audited who your competition has become? How many new competitors will be at Expo West this year who weren’t there 18 months ago?
You need to know who you’re competing with for shelf space so you can strategically evolve your branding and packaging to maintain and grow your market share. A category audit — what we build into every Cavehaus Clarity engagement — isn’t just research. It’s strategic intelligence that shapes every design decision that follows.
6. Justify Your Price Premium
According to the same SPINS/Pure Branding research, the biggest external challenge faced by natural product marketers is justifying the price premium. How can a redesigned packaging system help persuade consumers to pay more?
You need to balance the need for communicating more consumer benefits on pack with a clean, upscale aesthetic. This balancing act isn’t easy — but when done well, it makes the premium feel earned rather than arbitrary.
A useful exercise: walk through your grocery store looking specifically for packaging that visually communicates premium across other categories. Take pictures. Share them with your design team. Premium has visual cues that transcend category conventions — and great packaging borrows intelligently from those cues.
7. Measure Your ROI
How will you know if the redesign worked? You need to measure sales before and after. It sounds obvious, but the same SPINS/Pure Branding research found that over 28% of those who redesigned their packaging didn’t know whether sales had increased or not.
Based on the research, measure at a few key moments: within the first 3 months, between 4 and 6 months, again between 7 and 12 months, and then between 1 and 2 years. This pattern reveals whether your redesign created a spike, a sustained lift, or simply held the line — all of which are useful signal for your next strategic decision.
The natural products landscape changes fast. Measurement isn’t just about proving ROI on the last investment — it’s about knowing when it’s time for the next evolution.
Thinking About a Redesign?
The difference between a redesign that drives 54% of natural brands to sales increases — and one that doesn’t — is almost always the quality of the strategic thinking that precedes the design work. At Cavehaus, we don’t start with concepts. We start with diagnosis.
Our Clarity engagement audits your brand against your category, your competitive set, and your brand promise — and gives you the strategic foundation to redesign with confidence.
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About the Author
Matthew Cave is the Founder and Creative Director of Cavehaus, a brand transformation consultancy for CPG leaders in food, beverage, and modern wellness. He is The Brand Mechanic — he doesn’t guess. He diagnoses.