Long Life Chilled

Long Life Chilled

Maruha-Nichiro, a Japanese food company, which co-developed a new production method of controlling bacteria in chilled food. It allows the food to last for up to 45 days in the fridge without adding any preservatives, creating a new category of long-life chilled food, that falls between chilled and frozen food. Although MN test-launched the food product under the name CHEFLIER and sold 6 types of menus, MN had had no idea about their target segment and how they would market this product. Taking a human-centered approach, we first immersed ourselves in people’s dietary habits, followed by in-depth interview sessions. Takram visited various homes of different types of people to understand how they go shopping, store their food in the fridge, cook, dine, and clean up their dining area and kitchen.

Based on this research, Takram and MN decided to re-brand the product and completely change its product design, packaging, and logo. Takram and MN aimed to make the design align with thoughts, feeling, behavior, and interactions we observed during the research process. Moving from dark microwavable food packaging the new design is translucent to show the freshness of the food; the use-by date is now found on the end of the packaging as this is how the products are stored in a home refrigerator; and the form has end tabs which make the packet easier to handle when out of the microwave.