Pets have become an important part of many people’s daily lives, with pet ownership rates in the UK reaching record highs during and after the pandemic. At the same time, shelves are flooded with pet food products, making it difficult for owners to know what’s best for their furry family members.

Although raw pet food is nothing new, the concept is now being recognized as a serious option in the pet nutrition discussion. However, claims, counter-claims, and influencer opinions still make it difficult for consumers to navigate the space. Pet food brand Nutriment was founded in 2013, when raw food was still a small niche in the category.

Since then, the brand has grown significantly and helped bring raw food into the mainstream. The new goal is to become the go-to raw food destination and provide consumers with more clarity when shopping in-store and online.

Robot Food was commissioned to update Nutriment’s visual and verbal identity, including a new packaging design, with the aim of better communicating its science-led approach that differentiates the company from its competitors.

The studio’s account director, Emma Collingswood, highlights Robot Food’s work on other brands in the pet food category such as Harringtons, NAW, Wagg and YuMove. She also acknowledges that The Nutriment Company is doing “some really exciting things that present unique and interesting brand challenges” across its portfolio, which includes ten different brands.

According to Ben Brears, Creative Director at Robot Food, it was immediately clear that while Nutriment takes a very science-led approach to nutrition and raw feeding, “that level of quality and attention to detail wasn’t really reflected in their visual identity.” The studio realized that highlighting this information could be key to making the raw food diet more accessible and less daunting for pet owners, while also positioning Nutriment as an industry leader.

Brears says balancing these tension points – “science and simplicity, expertise and accessibility” – underpins the entire identity and design system. He also describes how the nutritional composition of Nutriment’s pet food, which is 85% raw meat and 15% fresh vegetables, influences the design by providing “building blocks of nutrition.”

“It gave us a framework to break down information, separate product facts from benefits, and highlight what really matters to provide real clarity to pet owners,” he adds.

Colour is used in the brand to create “an accessible entry point,” says Brears, and also has a functional purpose as it shows the diversity of the Nutriment range. When it comes to typography, Robot Food has chosen to prioritise simplicity and clarity of communication to match the brand’s values.

On the packaging, the bowl photos serve a dual purpose, according to Brears, because they not only show “the quality and care that goes into each dish and demystify raw food for the customer,” but they also look “damn delicious.”

Photography was another key visual aspect used to break down barriers between pet owners and the brand, such as concerns about convenience and practicality. Brears says, “We made a conscious decision to show Nutriment’s real, natural food in the context of real life, as part of the candid moments when bonding with our pets.”

Nutriment’s verbal identity was developed to complement the more visual elements and convey the complexity of pet care. Clayton Davis, copy director of Robot Food, notes that language in the pet food space often “feels a little dishonest, with many brands promising happy pets with simple, one-size-fits-all solutions.”

To avoid this, Nutriment’s tone of voice was developed with clarity and compassion in mind, allowing the brand to “confidently demonstrate expertise without applying pressure or guilt, and empower customers to choose for themselves,” says Davis. He adds that by focusing on moments that really matter to pet owners, Robot Food has ensured that the brand can be “celebratory and joyful in an authentic and sincere way.”