Prescription produce for America's underserved. 

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Wholesome Wave - Food equity and foodservice, 2018

Wholesome Wave was a pioneer of the "food as medicine" movement, co-founding a prescription produce program and helping to rewrite America's Farm Bill. Their achievements and future were outgrowing their current brand.  

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Challenge - Growing into new sectors 

The non-profit needed a clear story and fresh identity to stretch as their business strategy grew, requiring greater funding ambitions. The company built a for-profit arm of health food to distribute via food services companies, and they needed a brand architecture portfolio to house its multiple offerings.​

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Strategy - Transfer equity and mission 

Our conviction was that the new business should celebrate its parent brand. A linked name and identity would let it borrow the trust Wholesome Wave had built over a decade. The new brand's buyers were foodservice directors at hospitals, campuses, and corporate dining. They needed to feel the halo of Wholesome Wave's mission before they ever tasted the product.

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Creative - Freshness across America

We rebuilt the whole family. Wholesome Wave's positioning, narrative, and identity were sharpened and brought to life in new guidelines. Wholesome Rx gave the produce prescription program a name of its own. Wholesome Crave was net new - a mark designed to sit beside its parent rather than compete with it, so a buyer feels the relationship between the brands semiotically.

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Results

Wholesome Crave launched in 2018. By 2019, it was the preferred plant-based soup provider at Google headquarters. In 2023, it partnered with Nestlé Professional and UMass Dining to bring plant-forward menus to more than a dozen universities. A share of every sale returns to Wholesome Wave. The architecture still holds.

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Contributions

Brand architecture, portfolio strategy, naming, briefing, and design direction.

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Agency

Young & Rubicam New York​​​