Sola, a new sugar substitute and line of low-carb and low-sugar branded products made from sweeteners found in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products, looks, tastes, measures, browns, and caramelizes just like sugar but contains 75% fewer calories and zero net carbs. The company’s line of ice cream, yogurt, smoothies, bread, granola, and granola bars hit shelves at Harris Teeter in the Southeast and Hy-vee stores in the Midwest in early March.
Sola was developed in 2012 by Ryan Turner, a private chef from Great Britain who’s known for creating healthy, delicious, low-carb meals and desserts. Sola has a low-glycemic response, replaces sugar gram for gram, retains its structure in baking, and has no aftertaste. Because Sola is not well known in the U.S., the company hired ad agency LRXD to design packaging that would convey that these delicacies are also diet-friendly.
To meet this challenge, LRXD designed bright red packaging that is offset by a swatch of complementary color—a different hue for every SKU—and cutaway windows that give shoppers a peek at the products. Sparse expository copy in white relays the most pertinent information on the front of each package. Sola Bread, for instance, is delightfully seeded and contains 80 calories, 4 net carbs, 6 g of protein, and 50% less sugar than the average whole wheat slice.
“We used the angled color blocking and transparent windows to create something eye catching and iconic at shelf,” says Creative Director Andy Dutlinger. “It was also essential to communicate to shoppers that these products allow them to cut out sugar without sacrificing the taste they’ve always loved.”
