As the cost of living continues to bite, Brits are increasingly swapping traditional takeaways for at-home ‘fakeaways,’ supermarket-bought meals designed to replicate the restaurant experience.
To take advantage of that, Pizza Express has launched a new Specials range, designed to give people that “special occasion” restaurant vibe at home.
The brand partnered with long-time collaborator Brandon Consultants, who designed the visual architecture and packaging for the new range. The Manchester and London-based studio also refreshed the look of the PizzaExpress Classics range.
“We’re the number one chilled pizza brand, with more than 20 years in supermarkets, and what sets us apart is the restaurant experience we can draw on,” says Bianca Warren, senior retail manager at PizzaExpress.
“With Specials, we wanted to create the best possible pizza for at-home occasions – whether that’s a girls’ night in, a glass of wine after a long week, or a family dinner in front of the telly – and make those moments more special.
“The idea is to make you feel like you’re in a restaurant even while you’re on the sofa.”
BrandonConsultants’ packaging for the new Specials range by PizzaExpress
Warren believes that PizzaExpress carries a unique emotional weight in Britain, as so many of us have a memory or a story tied to the brand.
“Whenever you mention you work at PizzaExpress, people don’t just say ‘oh, cool,’” she says. “They’ll tell you about their first date there, or their go-to family meal.
“We wanted to bring those emotional connections into the home, with pizzas that not only deliver on taste and flavour but also catch the eye on the shelf.”
To reflect their premium positioning, the new packaging had to speak to the craft that goes into making the pizzas. But to create something new for a brand that has been a staple of supermarket aisles for 20 years, the Brandon team had to look back before looking ahead.
“PizzaExpress originally carved out the chilled pizza category in retail, so our challenge was to go back and ask – how did we disrupt in the first place?” says Beth Johnson, account director at Brandon Consultants.
Brandon Consultants’ packaging for the new Specials range by PizzaExpress
“We wanted to find new ways to do that again – to offer something that might not be ‘new’ in the technical sense, but feels new on a human, emotional level.”
To do that, the team decided to underpin the handcrafted-ness of the product by putting the people who make the pizzas at the heart of the designs. Each pack carries the photograph of a real PizzaExpress pizzaiolo – in the iconic black and white striped T-shirt – proudly holding their creation.
The chilled aisle is notoriously cluttered, so Brandon Consultants decided to upend the category codes. Instead of top-down shots of ingredients – as is typical in the sector – the photograph of the pizzaiolos presenting the pizzas immediately communicated both flavour and the brand’s point of difference.
“We didn’t want to feel like a mass-manufactured product, because that’s not who we are,” says Johnson. “PizzaExpress’ pizzaiolos bring real expertise, and they have the history to back that up. Putting a human on the packaging was our way of capturing that emotion – and it’s something nobody else in the category does.”
And showcasing the pizzaiolos so prominently helped connect the retail offer back to the restaurant experience. “We wanted to make sure the retail range stayed anchored to that,” says Johnson.
Framing the photograph is the brand’s filigree – now seen in an amber metallic finish – and the logo. The team chose to retain Dan Forster’s custom script typeface, grounding the work with one of the brand’s most distinctive assets.
Brandon Consultants’ refreshed packaging for the Classics range
The pizzaiolos became the thread linking the new Specials to the refreshed 9-inch Classics packaging, appearing in photography on the former, and illustration on the latter.
“When you look back through the archives, PizzaExpress has always had a deep connection to art and creativity – from Enzo Apicella’s beautiful decals on our restaurant windows and walls, to the way design has shaped the brand,” says Johnson. “That history is intrinsic to who we are, and we wanted to carry it through into the modern day.”
In the suite of illustrations now seen on the Classics packaging, an expressive pizzaiolo whips up a pizza, and is seen interacting with the ingredients, a tool used for varianting.
Brandon Consultants’ refreshed packaging for the Classics range
“He’s drizzling olive oil on one and spinning pepperoni onto another – bringing real joy and life to the packs,” says Simon Magill, senior designer at Brandon Consultants.
While the team innovated through the illustrations, they also rooted the design in familiar elements such as the filigree, the brand mark, and the custom typeface.
“It’s about carrying that emotional connection through,” Warren says, “whether you’re in a restaurant or on your sofa at home.”