Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors
Project Overview
Evolving one of America's most recognized butcher brands for retail shelves
Pat LaFrieda is one of America's most recognized meat purveyors supplying many of the country's leading restaurants and hospitality groups. As the company expanded its retail presence, it needed a packaging system capable of translating its premium reputation into a consumer-facing experience.
The work included retail packaging, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) labels, vacuum boards, marketing collateral, brochures, and refreshed brand assets implemented on products sold through major retailers and marketplaces including Eataly and DoorDash.
The work included retail packaging, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) labels, vacuum boards, marketing collateral, brochures, and refreshed brand assets implemented on products sold through major retailers and marketplaces including Eataly and DoorDash.
Project Objective
Develop a scalable packaging ecosystem — including marketing collateral — that modernizes the brand while preserving the visual equity built over four generations of family ownership.
Project Disciplines
Visual Identity
Packaging Design
Marketing Design
Print Production
Skills
Retail Brand Systems
Packaging Design
Marketing Collateral
Production Design
Art Direction
Tools
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe InDesign
The Challenge
Communicate premium quality within seconds
Maintain consistency across multiple product formats
Accommodate varying package sizes and regulatory requirements
Differentiate product categories while preserving brand recognition
Extend the same visual language across packaging and marketing materials
Building a Retail Packaging System
Creating a Flexible Label Architecture
The largest challenge wasn't designing a single package — it was creating a system that could scale across dozens of products, packaging formats, and retail environments.
The solution centered around a flexible label architecture built from a small number of recognizable brand elements — a repeatable framework that could scale across SKUs.
The solution centered around a flexible label architecture built from a small number of recognizable brand elements — a repeatable framework that could scale across SKUs.
Together these elements created a consistent visual language that could be adapted across product categories and allow new products to be added to the lineup without sacrificing consistency and maintaining immediate shelf recognition.
Communicating Quality Through Packaging
Consumers make purchasing decisions quickly, especially within refrigerated meat cases.
The packaging needed to immediately communicate premium quality, American sourcing, humane farming practices, and USDA compliance — as such, messaging like "Raised and Grazed in America," humane treatment information, and quality certifications became key storytelling elements and supporting visual cues across multiple product lines.
The packaging needed to immediately communicate premium quality, American sourcing, humane farming practices, and USDA compliance — as such, messaging like "Raised and Grazed in America," humane treatment information, and quality certifications became key storytelling elements and supporting visual cues across multiple product lines.
Extending the Brand Beyond Packaging
The visual system expanded beyond retail packaging into sales and marketing materials, including sell sheets for retail wholesale buyers, promotional print ads, and refreshed business cards for the company.
One major deliverable was a wholesale product catalog that organized a complex product portfolio—including beef, pork, lamb, poultry, veal, dry-aged programs, and specialty offerings—into a cohesive publication. The brochure reinforced the same premium positioning through photography, typography, and editorial layouts while helping communicate product breadth to wholesale customers.
One major deliverable was a wholesale product catalog that organized a complex product portfolio—including beef, pork, lamb, poultry, veal, dry-aged programs, and specialty offerings—into a cohesive publication. The brochure reinforced the same premium positioning through photography, typography, and editorial layouts while helping communicate product breadth to wholesale customers.
Outcome
The final work established a cohesive retail packaging ecosystem that brought greater consistency, scalability, and shelf presence to Pat LaFrieda's consumer-facing products.
By creating a flexible design system rather than isolated packaging solutions, the brand gained a framework capable of supporting future product expansion while maintaining the premium reputation that has defined Pat LaFrieda since 1922.
By creating a flexible design system rather than isolated packaging solutions, the brand gained a framework capable of supporting future product expansion while maintaining the premium reputation that has defined Pat LaFrieda since 1922.