Gold to go: Commissaries’ Freedom Choice enhanced water earns top industry honors for label design
FORT LEE, Va. – The Defense Commissary Agency’s Freedom’s Choice enhanced water label was awarded a 2020 Gold Vertex Award for packaging design. This year’s competition included more than 400 entries from 27 countries and 49 retailers.
“We have worked really hard with our distributor SpartanNash to create private label brands that deliver consistent, quality alternative products allowing our customers to stock their pantries and put even more savings back in their pockets,” said Jennifer Ferrell, DeCA’s private label program manager.
The Vertex Awards, in its seventh year, is the only global competition devoted exclusively to the art of private brand package design. The labels are judged by a panel of industry experts from around the world. Awards are based on creativity, marketability and innovation according to the Vertex Awards website.
“Winning this award means so much to all who helped develop and produce the Freedom’s Choice line, because it demonstrates the progress we’ve made at the agency and in the industry,” she added. “Not only are we seeing our progress with more customers buying private label products, but our peers in the retail grocery industry are as well, and that’s something we should all celebrate.”
The objective of the label was to reflect the enhanced properties of the water and draw the customers’ eyes to the commissary store brand label, Ferrell said. “Store brands around the globe are elevating packaging and quality and we’re pursuing that same strategy.”
The design solution was sleek and modern, with minimal typography to focus on the illustrated wave pattern. Overall the packaging resonated with a contemporary and active lifestyle audience, she added.
Beside the Freedom’s Choice brand which includes food products, there is HomeBase for non-food items including paper towel and tissue products, garbage bags and other household items as well as the partner brands of Full Circuit Market, Tippy Toes, TopCare, Flock’s Finest, Pure Harmony and Wide Awake.
Visit the Commissary Store Brands web page to learn more about DeCA’s private label products.
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About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.