Frankster’s: Turning Good Food into a Stand-Out Shelf Presence

Some brands don’t need reinventing. They just need tightening up.

Frankster’s had the flavour. They had the attitude. They had a loyal following. What they didn’t have (in their own words) was a range that felt as punchy and current as the food itself.

Their sauces were doing the job on burgers and fries. But on shelf? They were starting to blend in.

And blending in is expensive.

So we got to work.

The Challenge: Look The Part. Stand Out In A Crowd.

This project sits squarely within two of our strategic pillars:

Look the part – making a strong first impression
Stand out in a crowd – clear differentiation in busy markets

The sauce category is noisy. Red labels. Flames. Bold type. Claims shouting from every angle.

When everything shouts, nothing gets heard.

Frankster’s didn’t need more noise. They needed clarity and confidence.

Keeping The Soul. Modernising The Signal.

The existing brand had recognisable elements — the burger-shaped framing device, the bold red, the playful tone. Throwing it all out would have been wasteful (and commercially risky).

Instead, we refreshed.

We sharpened the burger icon into a cleaner, more contemporary mark.
We simplified the graphic language.
We tightened the typography.
We introduced a stronger flavour hierarchy.
We built consistency across the range.

The result?

Packaging that feels deliberate rather than decorative.

Modern rather than dated.

Confident rather than crowded.

Making Flavour Easier To Shop

When someone is standing in front of a supermarket shelf, they aren’t reading a brand story or studying every design detail. They’re making split-second decisions based on what catches their eye and what they can understand quickly.

That was one of the key objectives behind the Frankster’s refresh. We strengthened the flavour hierarchy with bold, high-contrast naming, introduced clearer visual differentiation between each sauce, refined the iconography and used a strong central brand device to tie the entire range together.

The result is a collection that’s easier to navigate. Burger Sauce looks unmistakably like Burger Sauce, Buffalo Sauce immediately communicates heat and intensity, Garlic Mayo feels rich and creamy, and Peri Peri delivers exactly the level of energy you’d expect.

The less time a customer spends working out what they’re looking at, the easier it becomes for them to make a purchasing decision. Good packaging quietly removes friction, making the product feel like the obvious choice.

Design isn’t decoration. It’s one of your most effective sales tools.

Building Trust Through Consistency

A successful product range shouldn’t feel like a collection of individual bottles. It should feel like a family.

By creating a more consistent visual system across the Frankster’s range, each product now reinforces the next. The bold red brand colour provides instant recognition, while the flavour panels create enough distinction for every sauce to retain its own identity.

That consistency matters. It signals professionalism, builds familiarity and strengthens brand recognition over time. When customers see a range that feels cohesive and considered, they’re naturally more inclined to trust the quality behind it.

Trust is one of the few things packaging can build before a customer has even tasted the product.

Why This Matters Commercially

Although we’re still waiting for formal performance data, our conversations with Frankster’s have been extremely encouraging. The refreshed range feels stronger, more contemporary and much better equipped to compete in a busy retail environment.

Projects like this aren’t simply about making packaging look newer. They’re about improving visibility on shelf, helping shoppers recognise products more quickly and creating a stronger connection between the quality of the product and the quality of the brand presenting it.

Over time, those improvements can contribute to stronger brand recall, greater confidence in pricing and increased customer loyalty. When packaging looks intentional and professional, it changes perception. And perception has a direct influence on purchasing behaviour.

Why We Kept It Simple

One of the biggest temptations during a packaging refresh is to add more.

More graphics. More messages. More colours. More visual noise.

In reality, the opposite is often true.

The strongest packaging is usually the clearest. Every design decision should have a purpose, and every element should help the customer rather than compete for their attention.

Frankster’s didn’t need a completely different identity. They simply needed a more refined version of the one they already had. By concentrating on clarity instead of complexity, we created packaging that feels more modern without losing the personality that made the brand recognisable in the first place.

What Other Brands Can Learn

If your product range has started to feel a little dated, a complete rebrand isn’t always the answer.

Sometimes the greatest impact comes from refining what’s already there. A clearer hierarchy, a stronger visual identity and a more consistent design system can completely change how a product is perceived without losing the brand equity you’ve spent years building.

A thoughtful packaging refresh can help products attract attention more confidently, communicate more clearly and strengthen customer trust long before anyone experiences what’s inside the pack.

Frankster’s already had a product worth shouting about.

Our role was to make sure the packaging worked just as hard as the sauce inside.

Because on a crowded supermarket shelf, being noticed is the first sale you’ll ever make.