About That Brand / Industry guides
Branding agencies for food and drink brands
Food branding meets people in practical moments: choosing from a shelf, reading a menu, placing an order or opening a delivery. A useful identity should make the product recognisable and appealing in those settings, not only in a carefully arranged presentation.
Compare the work and the fit
Packaged products, restaurant groups and premium retail experiences need different combinations of skills. Compare the agency’s exact assignment and the production work needed to bring your own brand into use.
Evolving a familiar restaurant identity
A connected packaging and retail experience
A food brand system with room to grow
Selected examples, not a numerical ranking. Sources checked 15 September 2026. The fit guidance is our editorial assessment.
Evolving a familiar restaurant identity
Jones Knowles Ritchie
JKR publishes its Burger King rebrand as an example of its identity work for an established food brand.
Source: Burger King project ↗Consider this reference when recognition is an asset you need to retain. Ask how the team would decide what to preserve, what to simplify and what can change. Test the proposal against a real menu, takeaway pack and small digital image.
A connected packaging and retail experience
FutureBrand
FutureBrand’s Nespresso account covers packaging, retail and loyalty-related brand work.
Source: Nespresso project ↗This is relevant when the experience extends beyond a single pack. Ask how product ranges, gifting, replenishment and retail displays will fit together. Agree whether structural packaging, artwork production and supplier coordination sit inside the engagement.
A food brand system with room to grow
COLLINS
COLLINS describes developing Sweetgreen’s brand system with its in-house team, across applications including stores, packaging, marketing and digital products.
Source: Sweetgreen project ↗Use this example when growth has left different channels feeling unrelated. Ask for a system your internal team can extend to new menus, locations and seasonal material. The proposal should explain how photography, illustration and practical information work together.
What to put in your brief
- Bring the actual product range, formats and selling environments. Identify the decisions a shopper or diner makes in each.
- Separate the brand idea from production requirements. List pack sizes, artwork variants, menu formats and digital assets.
- Identify which existing colours, shapes, names or symbols customers recognise. Ask how the agency will evaluate their value.
- Agree responsibilities for product information, approved claims, photography, artwork checking and supplier handover.
Questions worth asking
- How will you test the identity in our real shelf or ordering context?
- Which production deliverables are included in the fee?
- How can the system accommodate new flavours, products or locations?
Common questions
Is packaging design included in branding?
Sometimes, but the scope varies. Strategy and a visual identity do not automatically include every pack format, production artwork or physical prototype.
Should a growing food business rebrand completely?
First identify what is failing. Better range navigation, photography or consistency may solve the problem while retaining assets customers already know.
Explore related guides
Project accounts describe published work, not guarantees of future outcomes. Confirm the proposed team and scope directly. Read our methodology.