Why Did Morton Salt Change Its Iconic Package Design?

You may not know the name, but I guarantee you’ve seen Morton Salt’s package design. If I were to ask you about brands of salt, I bet you’d immediately picture a dark blue cylinder with the image of a little girl in a yellow raincoat. It’s undeniably the most famous brand of salt due to its memorable package design. Even if you, surprisingly, didn’t immediately think of this design, I’m sure you were able to picture it the second I described it.

So, with such an iconic and memorable design, why would Morton Salt decide to completely change their design? Well, you’ll have to ask them. But Printrunner lists some reasons why any brand, including Morton Salt, would want to redesign their packages. Several of these are listed below.

Cost

One of, if not the, biggest motivators for any package design change is cost-effectiveness. It’s important for every company to keep costs low, and in order to not sacrifice the quality of the product itself, companies often choose to reduce packaging costs.

For this reason, it makes sense that Morton Salt would switch from the more expensive fiber-wound packaging to the cost-effective plastic the designs are now made of.

Appealing to the Environmentally Conscious

According to Studio111Design, the company responsible for Morton Salt’s new design, “Except for the removable shrink-wrap label, the bottle is 100 percent recyclable and made of BPA-free material—a step in the right direction to position Morton as an environmentally-friendly and waste-free brand”.

Due to the current state of affairs when it comes to the environment, brands are making moves towards  more eco-friendly packaging to reduce their carbon footprint. Not to mention the fact that this move will appeal to those who are environmentally conscious.

Outdated Package Design

Seeing that trends are constantly changing, it makes sense that brands should change their packaging to keep up with what the people want, and what will actually sell. This could include aesthetics, as well as functionality.

Studio One Eleven was tasked with creating a new design that looks appealing, aligns with Morton Salts style in terms of color, and ergonomics. What does this mean, exactly? With this purpose in mind, they created a package design that stays true to Morton Salts colors, can be comfortably held in one hand, and easily flipped open with one finger. In addition, there’s now a convenient window in the design so people can easily determine which type of salt is inside, and just how much is left in the bottle.

The people asked for a modern design, and Studio One Eleven delivered!

New Product Packaging Technology

Speaking of ergonomics, it’s possible that designs created for this type of packaging weren’t possible to create the last time Morton Salt had a redesign. Think about it, it’s only in recent years that we’ve begun to see packages that are easily held in one hand, due to their central curves. Creating an easy-flip lid is also an innovative design that you hadn’t seen too often in the past. Sure, there were flip lids, but how many could you easily open with one finger? Not many.

To Stand Out

The three types of salt that received new packaging include Coarse Kosher, Coarse Sea Salt, and Fine Salt. In the same Studio One Eleven article mentioned above, the new package designs for these salts is meant to make people more conscious of what salt they are purchasing. In other words, they’re meant to be eye-catching enough to make people really take notice as well as “fuel the growth of specialty salts among home cooks”.

Final Thoughts

Clearly their new package design was a hit, since it was awarded the Gold Innovation Award, by the National Association of Container Distributors, according to PackWorld. But when it comes to Morton Salt’s consumers, are they as impressed by the new package design as the packaging world is?

Well, if they like modern, easy to use, environmentally friendly, and cost-effective package designs, I’d bet on it.