Squirrel Brand

Founded in Roxbury, Massachusetts in 1888, Squirrel is one of America’s most iconic and well-loved nut brands, seen everywhere from Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd’s pocket as he explored the Antarctic, to Hollywood dressing rooms. John B. Sanfilippo & Son wanted to reimagine the Squirrel packaging and reinvented the brand while celebrating its unique heritage, ensuring it would appeal to “Gen Next” and the food-obsessed. The new packaging drives taste appeal while hero-ing Squirrel’s exquisite flavors, ingredients, and creation methods. The packaging design draws on a rich history of iconography while updating it for a modern audience. It also takes inspiration from fashion for its architectural principles, with signature, diffusion collections, and high-end couture taste sensations demonstrated across the new packaging. The refreshed brand packaging is all about celebrating the nut by putting the nut back into the center of the story. Squirrel’s nut story is brought to life through an updated squirrel character with a new name, Zip (after the famous Squirrel product Nut Zippers). They join an impressive Squirrel legacy of non-binary fictional characters. Zip constantly scours the earth to gather the greatest nuts and ingredients. On pack, the charming character roams around the art-deco inspired logo, never in the same place twice, and always on the move. Squirrel’s new packaging is designed to offer a premium experience from shelf through to eating. The unpackaging is design to reveal layers of the brand’s origin story, nuts and their ingredients, and an explorer’s map to guide the consumer through the brand experience. An elaborately designed outer cylinder beautifully accentuated with hot foiled gold houses an inner sleeve which is embellished with the brand story; the origin history of the hero nuts and seasonings; inspirations for the recipe and flavor combinations; flavor profiles and extended pairing suggestions; bespoke map illustrations. A sealed inner bag ensures the product is fresh and references Squirrel’s history where ‘a paper bag of nuts’ would be enjoyed at the fair. All this is carefully wrapped in Squirrel wallpaper–a tactile paper uniquely illustrated with historical elements of the brand as an additional wink to its heritage.