A new food brand inspired by West African cooking.
West African food is widely unavailable in most British supermarkets. Many ingredients can only be found in specialist shops, rendering it inaccessible to many consumers who will never be given the opportunity to discover this rich culinary culture themselves.
Without access to the cultural outputs of West Africa and frequent negative portrayals in film and television, negative perceptions of the area continue to flourish in Britain. This cycle brings deeply damaging economic, political and social repercussions to West Africa.
Food of Paradise is a brand inspired by grains of paradise, an ingredient prevalent in West African cooking but seldom found in British shops. It uses illustration inspired by pagne prints, an unusual colour palette and bold typography to encourage an unfamiliar audience to try something new.
The brand is carefully designed to reduce potential feelings of alienation or fear the audience may experience when trying totally unfamiliar food. Each product’s packaging contains shopping lists, recipes and a light-hearted tone of voice to encourage the potentially wary audience to give West African food a try.
Beyond simply introducing a new audience to West African food, the brand seeks to create direct connections between the British public and West African identities and economies in a tangible way. One advertising campaign, for example, allows the audience to win a trip to a villa holiday in Lagos, helping to generate excitement surrounding the potential for tourism in West Africa.