Blue Tokai, a beloved chain of specialty coffee shops and a forerunner on the emerging Indian coffee scene, wanted to take its coffee to the retail shelf through a novel pour-over format. How could they stand out while maintaining their premium look and feel?

Blue Tokai’s packaging at the time was an earthy and understated brown-and-black pouch with an illustration of a ‘tokai’ – a peacock’s tail. It sat perfectly in their cafés but would have been swallowed by the aisle. They needed a design evolution that would build connections with new customers and still stay true to their roots.