Petcurean is giving its Summit dog and cat brand a refresh and reformulation to stand out in the mid-premium pet food category.

Summit’s packaging, which had remained unchanged for over a decade and had an austere look more akin to premium coffee, was in need of a refresh (see, above). And this coincided with the development of a new brand strategy, as well as a revitalized, consumer-centric product portfolio.

“Summit has always been an important entry-level, premium brand for us to introduce customers to the Petcurean family,” says Tom Boatman, brand manager for Summit at Petcurean. “As such, it needed to embody Petcurean’s values [and] embrace its mid-premium positioning.”

With its new portfolio in development, B.C.-based Petcurean was looking to develop a new packaging design and visual identity to make Summit more accessible, to stand out clearly at shelf and differentiate itself in a crowded category.

Longtime agency partner, Vancouver’s Subplot Design, was tasked with the new packaging.

“It was critical to understand the mid-premium landscape, as well as to understand how to position Summit within Petcurean’s already established super-premium portfolio,” which includes Go! Solutions, Now Fresh and Gather brands, says Subplot founder and creative director Roy White.

Despite the “Summit” name, the agency says it became clear early on that the category at large was oversaturated with outdoorsy imagery, making the obvious choice of a mountain peak a poor one. So, to further the positioning of “Elevated Nutrition your Pets will Crave,” Subplot worked with illustrator Jaya Prastya to bring a unique and more whimsical pet illustrations to life for each recipe.

The CPG also rolled out a tagline, “elevated nutrition your pet will Crave,” to emphasize the flavour experience to help drive the positioning.

All Summit recipes have also been updated to elevate the palatability, nutrition and value of the product line. They are inspired by local farms and ranches from the brand’s Fraser Valley home.

Proprietary flavour names, such as Farmstead Feast, Meadow Range, Coastal Grill and Range Rotisserie, help bring the farm positioning to the forefront; however, these ideas are intentionally left subtle, and not called out directly on pack.