OKUHARA FOODS

Branding & Packaging Design

Client: Okuhara Foods Inc

Okuhara Foods was founded in 1947 as Hawaii’s first fishcake (kamaboko) manufacturer, and has been a local favorite in Hawaii for over 75 years. A family company at its roots, the company is currenlty in its third generation in Hawaii, with the grandchildren of the founder, inheriting and continuing Okuhara’s unique and authentic fishcake making techniques.

In Hawaii, there are many Hawaiian foods with Japanese roots, such as spam musubi and saimin. “Kamaboko” is a frequently used in these unique Hawaiian dishes. Coming up on 75 years, Okuhara felt the need to focus on branding themselves into more of a “seafood company” that would offer a richer diet and unique products to the younger generation in the future, while still respecting the traditions cultivated in Hawaii over the years.

A long-established fishcake shop in Hawaii that passes on family values aims for further growth through rebranding!

The upgraded corporate logo maintains the image that has long been recognized in Hawaii for years, and adds “FOODS” to the tag line. By developing the brand logos of the two product lines: Okuhara Fishcake and Okuhara Seafood, the product packaging brand power of the whole Fishcake line is further enhanced and the Seafood line is also strengthened at the same time. Okuhara aims to change its image from a fishcake company to that of a “seafood company” for the future.

The product packaging has been fully redesigned. Handwritten typographic design gives a sense of the company’s “nostalgic and relaxing” personality. The fishcake product line also continues to raise awareness and education for its customers by explaining “What is fishcake?” while also promoting the brand image of a long-established fishcake shop that values family ties. On its website and social media, the company as aims to increase its number of fans by posting recipes of various dishes using Okuhara fishcake and showing new and unique ways of eating fishcake in Hawaii.