Wolff Coffee Roasters has launched redesigned and recyclable coffee packaging that embraces what customers love about the roaster.
Classic, bold, and trustworthy are just a few of the frequent words that came up when Wolff Coffee Roasters asked its customers how they would describe the brand. They are also how you could describe the roaster’s new packaging, which hit shelves in January 2021.
“We really value the people across our business, from the farmers and employees to our wholesale partners and customers, so it was important for us that the rebrand be a collective effort,” says Penny Wolff, Co-founder of Wolff Coffee Roasters.
“We put some samples together of what our new bags could look like and took it out to research groups, including our customers, to gather some feedback. That helped us to think about what Wolff stands for, what our partners think, and to evolve the brand further.”
The new packaging continues Wolff Coffee Roasters’ classic colours scheme of black and white with red accents, but with a fourth “latte” light-brown shade thrown into the mix. Penny says the little addition represents their connection to the local coffee scene.
“Black and white have always been our core colours, with a pop of red to represent our passion, our heart, and our love of coffee and what we do,” she says.
“Now we’ve introduced the latte colour paying homage to our Australian coffee culture and its love for milk-based coffee.”
Wolff Coffee Roasters’ blends feature a black façade, white lettering and details, and a different colour along the gusset for each product in the range. Its single origins feature a white backdrop with highlights of a colour unique to that origin.
While the roaster’s recognisable eagle logo was a small element of its previous packaging, on the new bags it’s front and centre.
“Our previous bags were all about showcasing farmer details and flavour notes. During the research phase, some of the feedback we received was that our brand and own identity weren’t as prominent as they could have been,” Penny says.
“The new bags are quite bold in how we’ve made the logo and other aspects of the brand more prominent. The eagle now spans across the top of the bag as a nice motif, though the imprint keeps some subtlety, becoming clearest as you move the bag through the light.”
Wolff Coffee Roasters presented various designs and options to sample groups. Penny says the winning concept overwhelmingly connected with those who were familiar with the brand, and even those who were not.
“Many of the descriptors were repeated by the sample group – it’s recognisable, bold, sleek, sophisticated, trustworthy, speaks to quality, and has that classic edge to it,” she says.
“Our previous branding was a little more quirky. This takes a professional edge.”
The rebrand was also an opportunity for Wolff Coffee Roasters to embrace a more sustainable option for its packaging, moving to a soft plastic recyclable alternative.
“Everyone in the industry is recognising that our practices have to be carefully thought through. We need to play our part in ensuring we’re doing the least amount of damage possible,” Penny says.
When the team consulted with its customers and sample groups, Penny says they were surprised there wasn’t more demand for sustainable packaging. That is, until people learnt sustainable options were available.
“As time went on and they understood the benefits of this environmental component, it became clear it was something we needed,” Penny says.
“Not only does the packaging look nice, it feels nice holding the bag in your hands, knowing that you’re doing something better for the environment.”
The work behind the rebrand began around the start of 2020, but really kicked into gear as COVID-19 set in. The process went deeper than just designing new coffee bags. It also identified the pillars that hold up Wolff Coffee Roasters.
The first is a focus on quality, summed up with the tagline “Masters of our Craft”.
“Peter [Wolff, Co-founder and Master Roaster of Wolff Coffee Roasters] is often referred to as ‘the Godfather’ of coffee and Masters of our Craft is about showcasing that,” Penny says.
The Wolff Pack serves as the second pillar – a focus on the people, giving back to the community, and social responsibility. Penny says this value played a huge role in the rebrand, from involvement in the design to the sustainability of the packaging.
“We’re recognised as local roasters with a big heart, and our social responsibility drives that,” Penny says. “It’s important to us we be seen as not just a coffee roaster, but as people making a positive impact where we can.”
Since opening its doors in 2010, Wolff Coffee Roasters has played an active role in supporting the local Queensland community, from donating coffee to OzHarvest to raising money for Women’s Legal Services Queensland. In 2020, Wolff Coffee Roasters was awarded the Queensland Community Foundation 2020 SME Philanthropist of the Year Award for its wide reaching philanthropic support.
The new packaging will serve as an additional environmental credential of the business.
“The new recyclable bags contribute to social responsibility, with our footprint being front of mind. But it goes well beyond that. There’s the volunteering our team does with numerous charities and the work we do with our coffee farmers that goes beyond just purchasing coffee. At Wolff, we dearly value directly supporting our coffee producing communities through our Creating Coffee Connections Initiatives and our Farmer Residencies,” Penny says.
It’s also important to Wolff Coffee Roasters that it shares its knowledge with the wider coffee community. The Wolff College of Coffee – the third pillar of the business – boasts more than 84,000 subscribers to its YouTube channel and thousands of alumni from its courses.
“Education and knowledge sharing are incredibly important to us, and so is being inclusive in how we provide that, whether it be our in-person classes or free and accessible YouTube channel,” Penny says.
Like many in the coffee industry, Wolff Coffee Roasters’ fourth pillar of retail has become more important than ever due to COVID-19. The company has reinforced this pillar with more visually striking and identifiable retail packaging for its coffee.
Finally, and Penny says most importantly, the fifth pillar of Wolff Coffee Roasters is its wholesale partners that brew and serve its coffee each day.
“Supporting our customers and ensuring the quality of the brand is seen through all of our partners is crucial to us,” Penny says. “That’s why, while putting together our new look and feel, we talked to our customers about what they really see our brand to be and taking those feelings onboard.
“When we display our coffee, we continue to be very proud to showcase the collective efforts of what we’re putting out.”
For more information, visit www.wolffcoffeeroasters.com.au
This article appears in the February 2021 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.