While the pace of change seems to be accelerating overall, in controlled environment agriculture, that’s especially true.
And one New York-based indoor vertical farming company is updating physically, digitally and brandwise.
Bowery, which supplies fresh produce to more than 1,800 grocery stores and e-commerce platforms, has a new website design, product packaging, dynamic animation and emphatic advertising, according to a news release.
Bowery’s new blue packaging symbolizes its lack of pesticides and nature’s blue skies and fresh waters. The new arched logo represents “Bowery’s ambition to raise the bar on both food production and flavor,” the company said. Clear callouts visually inform consumers of key attributes: zero pesticides, no need to wash and fresher longer, according to the release.
“We grow in profoundly different and smarter ways, and we wanted to make that fact loud and clear with our refreshed brand identity,” Bowery Vice President of Marketing and Brand Frank Renwick said in the release. The “absurdly flavorful greens” are being marketed in a playful, optimistic way in newer mediums like streaming video platforms, he said.
Related: Bowery Farming taps into that Gen Z wellness consumer with NYC spa-like party
The company’s “Eat Up” slogan is focused on the potential of vertical farming to grow more with less and fight for the future of food by growing smarter, according to the release.
New packaging began shipping to retailers in mid-June. An updated logo, website and iconography round out the brand evolution. Vertically oriented typography nods to Bowery’s high-tech stacking of crops, while a new emphasis on animation allows Bowery to reveal its playful personality, the release said. Bowery partnered with international design studio Koto for the brand reinvention.
New salad kit
Bowery is also launching a new addition to its growing line of ready-to-eat salad kits. The sesame ginger kit, with includes a compostable fork, combines salty, sweet and crunchy ingredients. This plant-forward meal-on-the-go features a base of crispy leaf plus roasted edamame, crispy wontons and sesame ginger dressing.
“Our kits are designed to be a clash of flavors and textures,” Bowery Director of Product Marketing and Innovation Stephanie Jack said in the release. “The sesame ginger kit in particular hits that umami note that Bowery fans crave.”
Sesame ginger kits will launch in the new packaging.
Growth
This brand evolution comes at a pivotal time in the company’s growth. Bowery increased its retail footprint by more than 15 times between 2020 and 2023, the company said. The brand continues to pop up in unexpected places beyond retailers, such as Citizens Bank Park — the first sports stadium in the country to offer Bowery’s salad kits, and Sweetgreen locations in the New York tri-state area, which feature the Bowery bowl.
As it expands, Bowery continues to report efficiency gains, including improving the energy efficiency of its farm production by 35% in the last year, the company said.
Related: Vertical grower Bowery Farming launches first nongreen product: Strawberries
Bowery is scaling up with five farms in operation, including R&D and innovation farms for pioneering indoor agriculture science and two commercial farms under development that will more than double the company’s total production.
This brand has been in the market since 2016 and is currently sold in locations including Whole Foods, Ahold Delhaize, Amazon, Safeway/Albertsons and Walmart.
Bowery is backed by tech and agriculture industry companies with $647 million in equity and debt, according to the release, raised from investors including Fidelity, Temasek, Google Ventures, KKR, General Catalyst, GGV Capital, First Round Capital and people including Jeff Wilke, Tom Colicchio, José Andrés and David Barber of Blue Hill Stone Barns.
