Wellness Confectionery UK Launch

Stack of modern books and magazine with minimalist cover design on leather chair
Stack of modern books and magazine with minimalist cover design on leather chair
Stack of modern books and magazine with minimalist cover design on leather chair

project overview

Verbena marked Valeo Foods’ first move into wellness-led confectionery — introducing herbal, vitamin-based sweets into a category historically defined by indulgence and medicated cues. With no established shopper mental model for wellness in confectionery, the challenge was to introduce genuine innovation while working within a legacy category system and existing brand equities.

project type

Valeo Foods UK

year

2024

my role

Brand & Packaging Designer

client

Verbena Sweets

Minimalist book cover on white stairs with clean editorial design
Minimalist book cover on white stairs with clean editorial design
Minimalist book cover on white stairs with clean editorial design
Stack of books with modern publishing design placed on bright white stairs
Stack of books with modern publishing design placed on bright white stairs
Stack of books with modern publishing design placed on bright white stairs

Led early-stage consumer understanding through qualitative focus groups and 60/40 testing to validate taste, relevance and permission to play. Made a deliberate decision to retain the existing front-of-pack to protect brand identity and buy learning time in-market. Owned the launch end-to-end, coordinating brand, sales, insight and operations, and directing creative, media and PR agencies across digital, OOH and earned channels.

Led early-stage consumer understanding through qualitative focus groups and 60/40 testing to validate taste, relevance and permission to play. Made a deliberate decision to retain the existing front-of-pack to protect brand identity and buy learning time in-market. Owned the launch end-to-end, coordinating brand, sales, insight and operations, and directing creative, media and PR agencies across digital, OOH and earned channels.

Led early-stage consumer understanding through qualitative focus groups and 60/40 testing to validate taste, relevance and permission to play. Made a deliberate decision to retain the existing front-of-pack to protect brand identity and buy learning time in-market. Owned the launch end-to-end, coordinating brand, sales, insight and operations, and directing creative, media and PR agencies across digital, OOH and earned channels.

Open book with sunlight and shadows highlighting editorial typography design
Open book with sunlight and shadows highlighting editorial typography design
Open book with sunlight and shadows highlighting editorial typography design

Delivered the launch on a sub-£80k budget within an eight-month timeline, securing listings in 250+ WHSmith stores nationwide and guaranteed media placements across King’s Cross, Waterloo, St Pancras and 34+ UK locations. In-market learnings accelerated development of a sugar-free, HFSS-compliant variant for Tesco, with a national launch planned for September 2026.

Delivered the launch on a sub-£80k budget within an eight-month timeline, securing listings in 250+ WHSmith stores nationwide and guaranteed media placements across King’s Cross, Waterloo, St Pancras and 34+ UK locations. In-market learnings accelerated development of a sugar-free, HFSS-compliant variant for Tesco, with a national launch planned for September 2026.

Delivered the launch on a sub-£80k budget within an eight-month timeline, securing listings in 250+ WHSmith stores nationwide and guaranteed media placements across King’s Cross, Waterloo, St Pancras and 34+ UK locations. In-market learnings accelerated development of a sugar-free, HFSS-compliant variant for Tesco, with a national launch planned for September 2026.

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