Oat in the City Packaging Design

Oat in the City is an Irish oat drink brand. The product range includes a 750ml Original oat, a 750ml Barista drink and a 250ml dairy-free Chocolate flavoured drink.

The packaging design features an illustration of a unique character ‘Eoin the Oat’. Eoin the Oat is a down-to-earth authentic chap. He is a cool, fun oat. Each flavour has a different version of the oat character and also a different colour – blue ‘Original’ – the townie lad, green ‘Barista’ – the country bumpkin and brown ‘Chocolate’ – the cool dude. The colour variation and alternating versions of the character allow for easy flavour recognition and to bring a quirky, fun appeal to the packaging. The product benefits are highlighted on the front of the bottle, such as it is Dairy-free, Vegan, Gluten-free, and Extra Creamy, with Milled Irish Oats. Each bottle features a unique barcode to fit with the brand style.

We wanted to communicate that this is an authentic oat drink – therefore, when developing the brand name, the word ‘Authenticity’ lead on to the similar sounding ‘Oat in the City’. The name and brand story were developed to play on the expression of ‘spreading your wild oats’ in a humorous way – ‘Eoin the Oat’ likes to travel around the country spreading his wild oaty goodness with this oat milk drink. The illustrations feature a cityscape in the background, representing how Eoin is always on the move. The brand strapline is ‘Irish Farmers Milking Oats’, as the client wanted to communicate the local and authentic roots of the drinks range. Oat icons are used to denote this also.

Oat in the City stands out from competitors on shelves not only from a design point of view – from a nutritional and sustainable aspect also. Oat in the City has just 0.4 grams of natural sugar from the cereal (compared with generic oat milk brands which have up to 5.0 grams of sugar), alongside fibre and protein for healthy nutrition and a slow energy release. It retains a lot of the goodness in the finished product, compared to other oat milks. Oat in the City use all of the Oat and retain the oats natural fibres, beta glucans and protein. It has no added sugar and is low in natural sugars. This makes it a sustainable choice, as food waste is one of the leading causes of climate change. The process by which most commercial oat drinks are made results in the stripping away the parts that have the fibre and the protein, so that you’re mostly getting oat sugar. Oat in the City stands above competitors as it isn’t made in this way – it retains more of the oaty goodness, making it a healthier choice, creamier in taste and reduces waste and therefore is better for the environment.

Read more: https://www.shelflife.ie/a-taste-of-freedom/#ixzz7dShE6ais

This is a fun and playful brand and has already received a lot of media coverage nationwide, with Eoin the Oat slipping in to the hearts (and fridges) of Irish consumers.

Keep an eye on their Instagram page to find out more about where Eoin the Oat is!

Available in Fresh stores, Donnybrook Fair, Nolans and SuperValu stores. See more on the Oat in the City website also.

*A big thank you to Brendan Ryan Photography for the brand photos and Betsy Gach for assisting with the photo styling.
As featured on The Late Late TV Show on RTE.

 

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