Celebrating its 145th birthday, Italian pasta brand Barilla has unveiled a series of changes to its brand identity, packaging, and a new range of pasta.
Barilla’s updated look starts with a new logo. Instead of a 2-color egg-inspired presentation, the new logo is a solid, deeper red, designed with design agency Robilant. The revamped typeface is a little harder, adding straight corners to previously completely rounded characters. “Since 1877” in Italian is added above the brand name, reinforcing Barilla’s status as a legacy brand.
In another significant change, Barilla announced the removal of the plastic window from packaging. It estimates it will save 126 tons of plastic, and the announcement follows such change to its UK packaging. After 145 years, everyone is probably sure what pasta looks like, after all. However, at least according to a piece in Reuters, this will only apply to the standard blue boxes in international markets (Dieline reached out for clarification from the pasta brand but have yet to hear back about specifics on the window).
Barilla has also released a new product line called Al Bronzo, which is drawn through bronze dyes, resulting in a rougher noddle surface that absorbs more sauce. The packaging also takes advantage of Barilla’s brand refresh and comes courtesy of the Robilant. The pasta boxes are dyed the new, deep red with a textured finish that recalls Al Bronzo pasta’s unique characteristic. A dark blue compliments the red for a striking combination of colors. Illustrations highlight the rough finish of the Al Bronzo pasta. Robilant also added a new seal, inspired by the original Barilla stamp, an additional element that reinforces tradition and quality.
Barilla’s new look is bold and modern while celebrating its heritage and legacy as a pasta brand. The elimination of superfluous plastic from some of its packaging is a welcome change, and as the world’s largest pasta producer, their removal of windows from boxes could serve as an inspiration to other brands intent on making us see the “goods.”
UPDATE: A spokesperson for Barilla provided additional details regarding the removal of the plastic window, clarifying that the packaging change will be on all Barilla classic boxes globally except in the US, Canadian, and Russian markets, as consumers in those countries rely on the little plastic window to shop for pasta, according to Barilla.
“Consumers in the USA, Canada, and Russia use the window and transparency as one of the primary drivers when shopping for their beloved pasta,” the spokesperson wrote to Dieline. “Barilla would like to ensure that their consumers can find their products on the shelf easily; in countries where it’s needed. Via the new visual representations of pasta on the pack with the new Blue Box design, Barilla hopes to help these consumers to find their products easily but also to invite them to navigate via pasta visuals on the package and not just the window. In this way, the future for those markets can also become windowless packaging with less plastic, like in other markets.”
