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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
A new look in place
for an old, cold friendThe idea of an ice cream makeover conjures up various visuals including ice cream going on one's face and ice cream going in one's face.
This isn't about that.
Half-gallons of the Tropics line of Maui's Roselani Ice Cream are showing up in supermarkets this week in new packaging, the first change since 1989.
The company went to bid with the design project in 2000, inviting four local graphic designers to come up with ideas, said Vice President Cathy Nobriga Kim, and chose Sae Design.
Most ice cream packaging shows what's inside, either photographically or through clear plastic, but the venerable Valley Isle company didn't want to go that way, "because that looks like everybody else," Kim said. "I was looking for something with identity."
PHOTO COURTESY ROSELANI ICE CREAM
Roselani Ice Cream got its first face lift in 14 years.
The key elements of the old design included the rose representing Maui, cane fields signifying then-locally cultivated sugar, and the West Maui mountains from whence the product's water was derived, she said.
The new package incorporates those elements in a different way.
"Our goal was to maintain a strong brand presence while creating an overall fresh and tropical look for their line of exotic flavors," Sae Design owner Saedene Yee-Ota said. "The light and natural colors clearly display a sense of sun and foliage while complementing the traditional Roselani logo."
When customers see the rose with the ribbon "they know that's the ice cream from Maui," Kim said.
"Ice cream is a joyful food and consumed in moderation, it's not bad for you," she said.
There are opportunities aplenty to practice moderation, as Roselani Tropics' nine flavors include Haupia, Macadamia Nut, Macadamia Nut Brickle, Chocolate Macadamia Nut, Kona Mud Pie, Mango & Cream, Pauwela Sunrise, Coconut Pineapple and Lu'au Fudge Pie. Roselani also makes a premium ice cream line in more traditional flavors.
Roselani is carried at Star Markets statewide, Maui Safeway and Foodland stores, Times Supermarkets and Tamura Superette on Oahu and at some Longs Drugs stores.
Roselani parent company Maui Soda & Ice Works Ltd. has been around since 1888 and has made ice cream since 1932. Kim is a third-generation operator of the company as well as the family's cattle operations at Nobriga Ranch.
The fourth generation ranges in age from 2 to 17 2 and there's no indication whether they'll continue the family operation.
"We're brainwashing them as we speak," Kim laughed.
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Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at: eengle@starbulletin.com
