Ferrara Specialty Foods: Heritage Brand Finds Mainstream Appeal

For over 100 years the Ferrara brand restaurant/store in New York City’s Little Italy has been an icon offering pastries and imported confections.  The store did so well that it began packaging and marketing many of its products outside to a broad market.

As the brand grew it had a very unorganized identity because so many different people influenced it over the years. Finally, a new sales distributor company purchased the brand and began to unify the image into a cohesive brand and set a solid marketing direction.

Italian specialty foods have been an influence on main stream consumer tastemakers for years. Internal brand research showed that the brand was known primarily as a confectionery brand but it did not have a very competitive identity. Poor photography, confusing logo, and uneven print quality contributed to the low cost identity.

The goal

Other brands of lesser quality looked more upscale and had better shelf impact. It was decided by management and further research that the brand needed to compete at a higher level for the consumer attention.

The solution

Arcanna determined that the brand name had significant recognition but the packaging was not taking advantage of this benefit.  When new packaging was designed the focus was to enhance the value of the product by strengthening the brand name on the packages.

A new logo was created, new product photography was taken and a complete new design was created using appealing bright blue colors with a subtle motif in the background to add to the upscale value of the brand.

The brand now is positioned to appeal to those consumers looking for a high quality imported Italian specialty product. The shelf impact has been greatly improved and brand name significantly strengthened.

"It’s just what the brand needed, a new look, and an upscale identity for a quality imported product. Consumers now recognize the brand and our sales force is positive and confident when they market the Ferrara brand." Rick Ciccotelli, President, AlanRic Distributors.