Chefs Plate:
Delicious, affordable dinners with ingredients delivered to your door.
Chefs Plate - BRAND IDENTITY
THE MISSION
Founded in 2014, Chefs Plate started as a local meal kit company delivering a few boxes (approx 100 meals) a week. We were a small marketing team (4) with big ambitions. The mission was to grow the brand into a national household hold name. Delivering across country. This started with a logo redesign and continued to conceptualization and production of every single piece of creative.
CLIENT
Chefs Plate
THE OUTCOME
By the end of 2016 we were delivering more than 100,000 meals a month across Canada. Growing from 25 employees, to 100 to 300 very fast. Initially expanding to the east, this was followed by a second production facility and expanding to the west. Campaigns expanded from social and online campaigns into other traditional media; tv, direct mail and radio. From local markets to national markets.
SERVICES
Brand identity
Logo design
Web design
App design
Brand Book
Packaging/recipe cards
Social posts
Paid digital; google, facebook, instagram
Out of home, transit, print and digital
Partnership collateral
THE IMPACT
The impact lead to major growth in an emerging market. The meal kit Industry in Canada was estimated to be $300 million in 2018 (NPD Group Survey, July 2018), representing a .5 per cent share of total Commercial Foodservice volume. The company grew to a size were it was making a noticeable impact on the grocery category. Hello Fresh acquired Chefs Plate in late 2019 and still operates it as a competitor today.
What is Chefs Plate?
Chefs Plate delivers fresh ingredients & simple recipes right to your door every week - Recipes are ready in 30 minutes or less!
Pics or it didn't happen
Chefs plate was an e-commerce site marketing to millennials. A lot of money was spent on marketing on facebook and google. Every ad was tracked and performance reviewed. Our in-house media buyer allowed the team direct access to all statistics instantly. I could A/B test imagery and colours while having the team test things like headlines and dish names. This helped us to find out what was working and why(or why not). Our small team (of a few heads) was always able to interpret this info very well. It also gave us the power to act swiftly when needed to news, trends, events and holidays. As a designer, knowing about this data and being able to use it now, I find an invaluable skill.
Knowing performance info, combined with sales, always lead us to push for better results week over week. Seeing this work is a great feeling of accomplishment. Digital advertising can be an amazing tool for the right company, when used in the right way.
Promotions
This was a fun area of projects for me. Chefs Plate would partner with brands and chefs for paid or cross-promotions. For example: Working with Patrick Kriss, owner and head chef of Alo (often regarded as one of the top restaurants in Canada). Working with Canadian Iron Chef Vikram Vij (he made biryani that changed my life). Stella Artois. Chef Ned Bell. Lululemon. These types of promotions do a great job at building loyalty among subscribers.
Partner Landing Page
App Design
It was early 2016, Adobe XD was fairly new and I took the opportunity of having a finished website to build an app from. This was a learning challenge and wonderful way to dive head first into how we think and use digital platforms. The different thoughts, trends and progression, I was able to explore here. Having a strong web team and youtube allowed me to learn and progress in adobe XD and UI at a very fast speed. The end product was a great interpretation of the main site with a lot of interactivity and thought into how it could be used and utilized.
App Design
Out of home
Our target audience was millennials and target market was Ontario. We took advantage of high traffic areas mainly in digital advertising paid spaces but also explored more traditional spaces like subway advertising. Using different promo codes to track where our customers were coming from. Below are designs from the first Toronto TTC campaign buy.
Success
Chefs Plate grew faster than what the owners and board had estimated. Customers really liked the brand design/product, which attracted immediate attention and took off on social media. In addition to the initial peak, the growth was sustained and continued to demand for meal kits continues to remain high even months after the launch.
Brand attributes
THE PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDED THE CREATION OF THE BRAND
Cool & different
We realised that Betty’s should not look like the typical tennis or padel club. It had to be different, it had to really stand out.
Approachable
Betty’s had to be a place where people go after work, to disconnect. A place where you can go with your friends, to have fun.
Sporty
Betty’s is a padel club. Yes, you go there to relax and have fun with your friends, but the brand has to express the sporty soul of the company.
Gathering
Betty’s is a place designed to be lived with other people. Whether it’s friends, family or colleagues, this is a core value.
